Only Human
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: Tenno are not the only ones in the Solar System. Some humans are evil, some are good. Most are somewhere in between. This is a fanfiction, I own none of the rights to Warframe.
1. Chapter 1

**Human**

It was very quiet. She liked quiet. Quiet was her ally. It was not her place to run into danger, guns blazing. No. Her job was to be very calm, very precise and very quiet. The alarm sounded in the distance and she nodded to herself as she watched the guards pound away from where they had been congregated. She eased her way from her hiding place, ready to run or fight if needed. But it wasn't. None of the guards had even looked back. After all, if the sophisticated sensors arrayed all around the area hadn't picked up any life signs, there couldn't be anything there, yes?

Or something clad in some of the most scanner resistant armor known to man or Tenno. When she had asked, she had been told that an old Earth cockroach would have more of a signature on the sensors than she would. Which was good, since she couldn't move very fast in the armor. It was not heavy, just cumbersome. It masked her life signs from any scans and masked her visually as well. She was a ghost. She was never there. She was a Tenno Operative and she was very good at her job. A rumble sounded in the distance and she focused on her objectives. The supplies that her handler had requested she search for were here... somewhere.

The problem wasn't going to be looking for stuff. There was stuff here in this huge storage space. Stuff was _everywhere_. Boxes, crates, containers of all sizes and shapes. The huge storage facility defined full. But... Whoever had stored items here hadn't been a good organizer.

_Or sane_ She thought with a small mental smirk, careful to keep most of her awareness on her surroundings.

The last thing she needed was to get blindsided by a guard now. More rumbles in the distance told her that the guards had found the diversion team. Not that _finding_ them would do the guards much good. Tenno were _not_ lightweight enemies. They tended to leave swaths of destruction in their wake. But at the same time, they did not usually go for subtle. If _Tenno_ had been tasked to search the warehouse that the agent was slowly making her way through, in the end, a bunch of boxes would be broken, the guards would come swooping down and the team would have to flee with little to show for their efforts. No, she was the better choice for this. She was fast, scanning each box as she crouched beside it. Every so often, she would tag one and a faint hum of energy would be felt more than heard. Each tag allowed her handlers to transport small quantities of whatever she found out of the boxes. The tags degraded quickly, leaving no trace of her passage except several empty boxes in a storage area filled with boxes.

_The team is withdrawing._ The voice of her commander came and the agent paused, then nodded. They could only stay in the area a short period of time. Eventually, the enemy would get tired of their presence and do something nasty to dislodge them. Cutting off life support on a ship, dispersing toxic spores across the entirety of a planet side habitat or filling the area with poison gas, it made no difference. Any of the potential responses could and would kill even Tenno if left long enough. Messy but very effective. _Get out of there._

_Yes Lotus. _She replied, not expecting an answer. But then her scanner vibrated for her attention. She stared at it, then at the box which was... slightly different from the others. Something. _What the...? Lotus! I have found something! _She called and her handler was back, concerned.

_You need to get out of there! The team has withdrawn!_ The Lotus said sharply, but then the agent uploaded the scanner data and the Lotus... paused. _Oh my god..._

The box held a small human form encased in some kind of protective field. She couldn't tell gender, but she could read life signs. The child was _alive!_

_I will tag this box. _The agent said firmly as she did just that. Then she was ghosting back to where she had entered the warehouse. With a hum, the whole box vanished. _Lotus?_ She asked as an alarm started blaring. She hurried her steps.

_The box was trapped with multiple alarms! Run!_ The Lotus commanded. _Your ride standing by. Get out of there!_

The Operative needed no further urging. She darted for the air vent that had allowed her access to the storage unit. Behind her, she heard started and angry voices shouting, all in the Corpus language. Stood to reason, they had been robbing a Corpus facility. Luckily, she spoke Corpus. As well as Grineer, Tenno, a couple of _dozen_ human languages...

[What was that?] The harsh voice had to be a commander of some kind. [Why did the alarm trigger in here! None of the Betrayers got this far!]

Light shone across the area and she froze in place, praying her stealth systems would hold. She wasn't out in the open, but she _was_ slightly visible. If her stealth failed, if they managed a solid sensor sweep... She would not leave this unit. Not alive anyway. She was privy to far too many secrets to allow the enemies of the Tenno to take her. She could not feel the needles that had sunk into her carotid arties. She had been promised that the mixture they contained would be swift, painless and impossible to counter. But she didn't want to die. She had too much left to do.

Half a dozen Corpus Crewmen strode into view, their Dera rifles held ready. A pair of Techs stood nearby, their Supra rifles also ready. Behind them the form of an Blitz Eximus Commander stood, his posture angry.

[Well?] The commander snapped.

{Container 475-S is missing.] One of the crewmen reported. [Other boxes report losses. We have been _robbed_!] An angry mutter swept the room.

[Aw nuts!] The commander snarled. [Lousy stinking Tenno! It is not enough that they come in here and kill a battalion's worth of people, they have to _rob_ us too? What was in 475-S?] He asked one of the Techs, his tone turning resigned. The Tech slung his Supra and pulled out a datapad.

{It is marked 'Classified', Sir.] The Tech replied uneasily. The Operative did not move as a light swept over her. It kept going. [We better report this.]

[Who the hell puts _classified materials_ in a storage unit here of all places? This unit is a disaster! Who organized this?] The Commander snapped. Then he groaned. [The Board is not going to be happy. There went my profits.]

[Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.] One of the Crewmen who was searching near the agent muttered softly.

[I _heard_ that, Jackson K-67!] The Crewman went stiff as the Commander snapped. [You are on camera repair duty.]

[Yes sir.] The errant Crewman saluted and barked the Corpus mantra. There really wasn't anything else he could do. [Profit numbs the feeling.]

[Everyone out.] The Commander said after a moment. [The Board is sending forensic bots to determine what was taken.] In her concealment, the Operative quailed a little. Forensic bots would detect her quickly. If they arrived while the Corpus were still inside the room... [Out!] The Commander nearly screamed. [We are contaminating the crime scene. That means you too, Richard W-47. Stop gawking at the boxes and _move_. Now!]

[Commander?"] The Crewman sounded young. [What the heck is an 'Ark of the Holy Grail'? And what is it doing in _here_?] The Operative was actually happy when the Commander rounded on his laggard.

[What part of _'Out'_ do you not understand?] The Commander actually grabbed the offending crewman by the arm and bodily yanked him from the room. The door hissed shut and the Operative started moving again, slowly and carefully. But with dedicated scanners coming, she had to be gone. Sooner rather than later.

She made it to the vent. The cover had been laid in place to allow her access and she moved it easily. Then she started replacing the connections that held it in place. She didn't want to leave any traces. She heard the door hiss again and the sounds of robotics, but she focused on her task. She had it. She was sliding back in the vent when a light streamed into it. She froze as an Osprey appeared at the vent, it's sensors peering in. It beeped and moved on, it's sensors apparently not detecting her.

_Operative..._ The Lotus' voice was worried. _Status?_

_Apparently, that child was some kind of classified material. No idea why it was in here. _The operative said softly inside her mind. She didn't have to whisper in her mind. It was purely a psychological quibble that had no impact on the mission, so she ignored it. _They sent for forensic bots. They will detect my passage but apparently have not yet. _

_That won't last. Get out of there. _The Lotus commanded and the operative was happy to oblige. _Backup is standing by in case you need hard extraction._

_Roger that. _She could guess who. Tenno had a reputation as soulless killing machines and some were in her experience. But not all. And one in particular was _really_ beginning to annoy her. _Tell me he isn't hovering at the exit?_ She begged.

_He worries about you._ The Lotus sounded... amused?

_He needn't._ The Operative said sharply as she made her way through the innards of the Corpus facility. _I have a job to do and..._ She screamed as pain erupted across her side and back. Her body wasn't working right, but she managed to turn her head to see a Corpus Sniper aiming at her as she crumpled slowly to her knees. She had been shot with a Lanka. Silent weapon... A perfect ambush... She couldn't...

The roar of gunfire was loud in the small enclosure as a dark form from nightmares strode out of the shaft ahead, a pistol in each hand. Both Magnus pistols were barking at the sniper and the other Corpus who had been closing in to try and take her alive. Not that they could, but they would try. And... they had no chance at all against him. No one did at even close to similar odds.

_Nikis... don't..._ She pleaded silently as consciousness fled.

* * *

><p>It was no surprise that she woke in a Tenno medical ward. It was also no surprise that the doc was annoyed.<p>

"Get out, Nikis." No, Iriana wasn't annoyed. That word was too mild. She was _fuming_. "Now." Very few people could talk to the ancient Tenno gunfighter in such a tone of voice and get away with it. But Healer Iriana had his respect, not an easy thing to earn. Part of the Operative was sure that Nikis was _amused_ by the Healer's ire. Iriana did not like the gunfighter scaring her staff, which he did even when he didn't want to. It was just what he was.

"Doc." Nikis sounded... unsure. A first in her experience. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"_If_ you let me do my _job_, yes."The Healer said with acid tinged politeness. "Get out. Go...scare some Grineer or something." She said with all the gentleness of a mama bear protecting a cub.

"Gets old." Nikis was calm again. It seemed he was only ever calm these days in battle or... The operative paused. Around _her_. She stiffened in place. It couldn't be... Not that ancient _scary_, _crazy_ Tenno...

"I am all right, Nikis." The Operative managed to croak out. "I will be all right." Something grated inside her. It didn't hurt, but she got the feeling it _should_ have.

"Janet, shut up." Iriana snapped, her anger fanned. Janet opened her mouth again, but a finger laid on it and she closed it. "_Me_ doctor, _you_ patient. Shut up and let me work. Nikis. Out! Now." Something touched Janet's hand. Something cold, but... It felt...comforting. Then a door hissed and Iriana sighed. "I swear... That guy..."

"Iriana...?" Janet said, then gasped as something hurt.

"Janet, stop moving." Iriana commanded. "You were hit bad. If he had been a few seconds later in digitizing you, I wouldn't have been be able to save you." Janet forced herself to stillness and Iriana clucked. "Better." Soothing numbness flowed over Janet, her body relaxing from the pain. The doc sighed. "This is... beyond my capabilities, Janet. The bolt tore through you and did a _lot_ of damage." Iriana said after a moment. "I will have to put you out for transport to better equipped facilities."

"Iriana?" Janet said through the haze of numbness that suffused her now.

"Yes, Janet?" The doctor said as the clicking sound of controls being manipulated came.

"Is Nikis... in love with me?" Janet begged. The clicking stopped. "Tell me he isn't...? I didn't... All I saw was him being overprotective. Yes, I lost my family. I didn't lose my kid like he originally thought, but I won't ever see them again." She was crying a little now as her control faltered.

"Oh Janet..." Iriana said sadly. Something soft wiped her face. "I don't know. He... has lived and breathed paranoia for so long... I really don't know for sure. But... I would say 'Yes'. He is acting that way."

"Oh crap..." Janet said with feeling. Then she was falling into soft darkness.

"You said it."

* * *

><p>"Nikis." Iriana was not angry now as she finished prepping Janet for transport. As expected the Nekros gunfighter had come back in. He... She shook her head. He was acting more like a teenager in love than a Tenno at the moment.<p>

"I apologize, Healer." Nikis said quietly. "I... ain't myself these days."

"And is that a bad thing?" Iriana asked softly. Nikis just looked at her. "You worry me, Nikis." She said with a sigh. "I know you worry Lisa. I bet you worry Jasmina as well."

"He does." The voice was familiar. Iriana smiled widely as Lisa entered the room behind the Nekros, her face a mix of worried and... something else. The girl was a far cry from the mass of feral instinct that Iriana had seen first. She simply inhaled information, and she was so gentle and kind that even the smallest and most frightened children instinctively trusted her. Nikis slumped, acting hurt, but she just shook her head. "It's who you _are_, Nikis. But it does worry us."

"Who I have been for a long, long time." Nikis agreed. "Since I had to kill Dust's mom." Iriana glanced at Lisa who shook her head.

"We have been over this, Nikis." Lisa said sternly, stepping up to lay a hand on the Nekros' arm. He wouldn't let just anyone touch him, but Lisa was a special case. Especially since she was acting as a surrogate mother for his grandchild. No one sane threatened Lisa in any way around Nikis. "What else could you do? Richard needed your help. You know what she wanted. You gave it to her."

"Yeah." Nikis agreed sadly. "But doesn't make me feel very good about myself."

"Nikis..." Lisa said gently. "Janet is alive, thanks to you. Hold to that."

"I do, darling." Nikis said with a sigh. "I just feel... so off these days. Janet makes me feel better. I don't think I am in love with her, but I don't know. Doesn't feel the same. But... it does make me feel good."

"You have been alone a long time, Nikis." Lisa said sadly. "But now you are not. You have a family who are worried about you. Come on. You need to meditate." She gave his arm a gentle tug and he shook his head.

"If I argue, you will stand there all day, won't you?" Nikis asked sourly. Lisa just smiled and he groaned. "Fine, fine..." He groused. "Doc? I need to know." He didn't -quite- beg.

"The bolt hit her spine, Nikis." Iriana said with a nod. "Center mass. It missed her heart by millimeters. But it _did_ miss. She is alive, and she is _going_ to stay that way. Our databanks on regenerating human nerves are not as complete as... elsewhere." She said with a frown. "I could do it, but they can do it far faster and with less chance of complications."

Nikis and Lisa nodded. Even here in the middle of a secure Tenno sanctuary, none would speak of the last remaining bastion of the Orokin monarchy. Avalon had been virtually unknown even during the height of Orokin power and virtually undetectable in it's hiding place in the stellar corona, but it was hardly invulnerable. If enemies knew it existed, they would stop at nothing to find and either take or destroy the last known free refuge of the Orokin.

"Well, they don't want me going back." Nikis said with self deprecating mirth. "I made a bit of a mess when I went."

"I'll say." Lisa said with a snort. "Did you _really_ make the guards soil themselves?"

"Hey." Nikis said with a matching snort. "Warframes won't let you do that. But yeah... They uh... respect me."

"They are _terrified_ of you." Iriana corrected him." As is anyone _sane_." Nikis faked hurt again and she shook her head. "Nikis, I wouldn't change you for anything. We need you. But you are scary even when you do not want to be."

"Fear is my main weapon." Nikis agreed. "And I am good with it." He shook his head. "Keep me informed, please?"

"Nikis..." Iriana's voice gentled. "You... know..." Lisa looked worried, but Nikis just nodded.

"I don't know what I am feeling, doc." The ancient gunfighter said with a sigh. "But I ain't gonna hurt her. She has been hurt enough. I will back off." He promised.

"I am not asking that!" Iriana protested, but Nikis shook his head again.

"Better for both of us if I back off." Nikis said with a grunt as he turned to go. "I am Tenno. She is human."

"She deserves better."


	2. Chapter 2

**Friends**

Janet was floating. She was numb. Nothing hurt and she felt... well... she couldn't feel much of anything. It was odd. She was asleep, she knew that. So... why was she aware?

"You helped me." The voice was... odd. Neither male nor female. Confident, but... So very young. "I want to help you." Janet tried to focus as she had been taught and the voice sighed. "I mean you no harm. You are a good woman, Operative Janet." Janet forced her mind to stillness and the voice turned chiding. "You can't hide from me. I know what you are. I know _who_ you are. You are needed. Now more than ever."

_Don't..._ Janet started to protest as...something took hold of her mind and gave a gentle pull.

"It is all right, Janet." The voice comforted her. "We will talk again when you are stronger. For now, rest and recover. You are hurt. They will help you. Just... be prepared to be kept in the dark."

_Work better in the dark..._ Janet mused as she was falling again. The voice actually laughed at that.

"Yes, you do." The odd voice said with wry humor that was oddly gentle. Something touched her forehead. She tried to open her eyes but they wouldn't. "Such a good human... I had forgotten what good people were like. Surrounded by so much evil, it was easy to lose my way. Thank you, Janet. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. You saved me. Now I have to try to save us all."

_Who are you?_ Janet asked as her fall continued. She was spinning now, but it was gentle.

_A friend._

* * *

><p>"Operative Janet?" The voice was calm and confident. Janet tried to open her eyes and they did after a moment. "Ah, back with us, I see." The light dazzled Janet's eyes for a moment, and when she could see, she saw a human in a medical tunic standing beside whatever she was lying on. The man was... of medium age and tall with hair that was just turning from dark brown to gray. What Janet could see of the room was bare, white walls and ceiling. No decorations at all. What had to be a doctor nodded to her. "Good morning."<p>

"Morning." Janet said with a nod that stopped short as pain erupted in her neck. "Ow..."

"Easy." The doctor laid a hand on her head and something went 'click'. She couldn't move her head now. She was actually glad. Whatever was holding her had stopped the pain. He moved to remain in her field of view. "You were shot in the spine. The nerves have been repaired, but until the neurons figure out that the pathways have been reassembled, you will have odd sensations and occasional pain. There is no _actual_ damage anymore, but your brain will interpret the signals it gets as pain."

"Joy." Janet said with feeling but then sighed. "Ah well. I am alive. Thank you."

"Healer Iriana saved your life." The doctor replied. "All _we_ did was accelerate your body's healing a few thousand-fold. You will need rehab, but you should make a full recovery. You will be out if the bed in a day if you do as we say."

"Good." Janet replied with a calm she didn't really feel. The sensations from her body below the neck were... odd as the doctor had warned her. "A secure facility?" She asked, her eyes flicking from side to side.

"Yes." The doctor said with a nod. "No names but yours. No access anywhere but this room."

"Understood." Janet said with a grimace. It made sense. Her job wasn't safe. If someone like -say- the Corpus Clergy could access her mind -which they _could_-, they could get access to any number of dangerous secrets. Secrets that could put every Tenno Operative's life at risk. The fewer Janet knew the better. She knew she had been selectively mindwiped before and was glad of it. Too many secrets was dangerous. "Full support?" She asked as various sensations made themselves known.

"For now." T he doctor said with a nod. "Rest if you can. Someone will be with you at all times. They may or may not be able to give you their names." He cautioned.

"You do not need to do that, doctor." Janet said weakly. "I don't want to be a burden."

"You are not." The doctor replied calmly, touching something out of her view. Gold dazzled her for a moment and her eyes slowly closed of their own accord. "You are an ally. A valued ally. One we do not want to lose. So... rest. We will help you."

"Won't... say no... to a vacation..." Janet said with a grin as she slid back into slumber. The doctor's chuckle followed her down.

* * *

><p><strong>A few moments later<strong>

"Report."

The word was cold and forbidding, but then again... When the Empress of the feeble remains of Orokin came for a personal report on someone in the medic's care, she usually had little time for pleasantries. Eliza had... not been herself recently. She had made some spectacular mistakes and was still coming to grips with some of the repercussions of said mistakes. But she was bouncing back.

"Empress. The damage to the Operative's spine was as extreme as we were warned." Chirurgeon was usually less formal, but this was... different. "The hole that was blasted through her was straightforward to repair. The neural trauma less so. Iriana did a good job, but couldn't do as much as quickly as we can. The nerves have been regenerated and she should make a full recovery. Bed rest for a day or so to make sure the nerves are working, then rehab. No more than three days to full mobility barring any complications."

"Good." Eliza said quietly, staring at the view screen that showed Janet sleeping in a white walled room. The sleeping woman's head and shoulders were immobilized in a golden frame."But what you said before... You are right. We should not leave her alone." The doc nodded in agreement. "How many people do we have to stay with her who are cleared to do so?"

"Not many." Chirurgeon said with a sigh. "And _none_ of my staff. My people are good, no question. But they don't know operational security. It was never part of their training. Something to rectify, but for later.." He paused and spoke carefully. "Empress, if I may... why did they send her here? Iriana could have healed her. It would have taken more time, but Janet was in no danger after the wound was closed." He shook his head. "Or is that out of my security classification?" The Empress pursed her lips and he raised his hands quickly. "If you can't tell me..."

"I can." Eliza said softly. "But only _you_. It does _not_ leave this room." The small scanner room was secure against most forms of eavesdropping and only the doctor, the Empress and two of the Empress' guards were present. The doctor nodded formally. "She has gone through hell, Operative Janet." Eliza said sadly. "She was a Corpus agent who switched sides." The doctor's eyes went huge at that, but Eliza wasn't done. "It wasn't... entirely her choice, from what I gather. Intelligence has been less than forthcoming about a bunch of things. Even less than usual." She said dryly.

"That is their job." The doctor said diplomatically.

"True." Eliza replied. "Well, who can we have sit with her? If she won't be mobile for a day or so..." She made the last a question and the lead doctor of the of the outpost nodded. "I personally went a bit stir crazy after a few hours of lying on my back after you put me back together. We cannot keep her sedated the whole time. Can we?"

"We _could_." Chirurgeon replied uneasily. "It skirts the edge of medical ethics, but we could. She isn't cleared to know anything about where we are or what we are, is she?"

"No." Eliza said sadly. "Which is sad. By all accounts, she is an incredible asset and she lost her family. But..." She cautioned when Chirurgeon inhaled sharply in sympathy. "She chose her path. Now, we can only help her walk it." She shook her head slightly. "Any idea who?"

"Ah..." Chirurgeon turned to another screen and nodded slowly. "Mostly Tenno. They don't talk as you know." Eliza nodded absently. "Sara and Serene both have high security clearance."

"Serene is busy with Rocky." Eliza smiled at that. She loved Serene's little boy. The scamp had most of Avalon wrapped around his little finger already at less than a year old. But then she sobered. "Sara...? Is she... better?"

"Somewhat." Chirurgeon said with a wince. "She is _coping_ better. The therapists are certain that she is getting the nightmares under control." Eliza looked at him and then turned to the Tenno guards who never left her side. One nodded.

"She pushes herself too far." The Banshee Prime said softly. "Too fast and too far. We have all warned her. But she insists she can handle it." Eliza groaned and then Banshee nodded. "We are watching."

"That girl has no quit in her at all." Eliza said with a sigh. "Which is both good and bad." She shook her head. "Michelle is also chafing at the bit, clamoring to get out of the meetings and sessions I have saddled her with." She made a face and Chirurgeon nodded. "Since Raven left, she has been shouldering more and more responsibility. I know she is having trouble."

Being a princess was not like the fairy tales. There was a lot of work involved as well as a lot of meetings. Some interesting and easy to get caught up in. Others? Not so much.

"She never complains." Chirurgeon said quietly. "She keeps trying even with every headache we give her." Pride sounded in his voice now. Not surprising. Most of the residents of Avalon felt something for their princess. Especially now that she was expecting an heir. It was early days yet, but she was a good sport about everything. But both Eliza and Chirurgeon knew that Michelle had limits beyond which it was... unwise to push her.

"She is a good kid." Eliza agreed. She sighed deeply. "Sara is in class for a few more hours. I will go rescue Michelle from the latest Resource Allocation meeting and send her down here. Anything else?"

"There was a scanned oddity." Chirurgeon turned to his controls and perused them for a moment. "It may have been neural trauma, but then again... it may not have been."Eliza stiffened and the doctor nodded. "It wasn't any reading I am familiar with. She wasn't pulled into a virtual world. But the reading was odd. I recommend we keep a guard close. Just in case."

"And Sara?" Eliza asked softly. Then she shook her head, a rueful smile crossing it. "Never mind. Lis won't leave Sara's side, will she?" It was really, really weird having what was essentially a slave as a servant for Sara and Serene, but Lis was another special case. A former renegade who had surrendered, she had been enslaved by the Orokin tower that Serene had been staying at. Aside from the golden hoops on her forehead -a control mechanism that none of the residents of Avalon had needed to keep Lis in line- the Tenno was smart, capable, funny and very, very good with both Sara and Serene. She was patient, kind and gentle. Mishka -Healer Iriana's daughter- and Sara -Serene's daughter- both adored the former renegade and Lis returned the affection. Eliza shook her head. "Mishka is not authorized..."

"We will keep her occupied." The Banshee said quietly. Eliza nodded her thanks and the Banshee chuckled. "She likes the music classes." Then she sobered. "Your next meeting is in twenty minutes, Empress Eliza." The Empress of Avalon sighed and nodded.

"Someday, I hope to be able to sit and just listen to music for a couple of hours myself." Eliza said sadly. "Alas, not today. Keep me informed, Chirurgeon." With that, Eliza was gone.

The doctor sighed as well. He knew the feeling. But he had several patients, two of whom were in critical condition. At least the agent was stable. He would make sure she stayed that way. He shook his head as he... Wait a moment? He stared at the screen that showed Janet and then shook his head. He could have sworn that he had just seen another person in the room with her. But that was impossible. The sensors would have gone berserk. Now, there wasn't anything on the screen but Janet sleeping.

"Must be tired." Chirurgeon said to no one as he secured the room. "Two more patients and I can rest."

He never noticed a shadowy form that materialized in the room behind him as he closed and locked the door. The sad faced little girl shook her head and vanished.

* * *

><p>Janet woke to a familiar feeling. She was hungry. She opened her eyes and gingerly tried her fingers and toes. After a few moments, all of them worked. They hurt, but they moved. Which was a good thing. She went still as a young female voice sounded nearby.<p>

"Operative Janet?" A young dark haired face came into her field of view. The girl was young. Janet couldn't tell her age and usually the agent was pretty good at that. Somewhere between five and ten at a guess. But the little girl's eyes were far older than her face. "How do you feel?"

"Like I got hit by a Grineer Galleon." Janet said with a faint smile. "Who are you?"

"My name is Sara." The girl said with a smile. A hand found Janet's. Small, but strength could be felt in the gentle grip that squeezed her hand. "I have the clearances so I have been detailed to stay with you for a while."

"It is appreciated." Janet said with a smile of her own. It was hard to maintain though. She was still immobilized, her neck and head strapped down. "How long was I out?"

"About an hour." Sara replied calmly. "Do you need anything?"

"I think..." Janet focused on herself as she had been taught and frowned a little. "I feel strange. Part is likely the drugs. Part is my injury. But I am hungry and thirsty."

"_Those_ I can fix." Sara said with a smile that faded a little. "The docs don't want you to eat solid stuff for a while, but I can get you something to drink and some soup."

"Soup sounds marvelous." Janet said with a smile. Sara retreated from her view and the sound of containers being opened was loud in the quiet room. In a moment, Sara was back, a cup with a straw in hand. Janet let Sara place the straw in her mouth and carefully took a sip. It was just water, but it tasted like the best beer she had ever had in her life. She drank slowly and carefully, Sara watching her with a nod of approval. She swished the water around in her mouth and then swallowed, letting some of the water soak her parched cheeks and tongue. "Ah, that is good." She said after a few sips. Then she paused. "Sara?" Her eyes went wide. "Sara _Priosa_?" Sara had been extending a cup that steamed slightly through the straw, but she retreated a little. Janet wilted. "I am sorry..."

"You were not involved." Sara said softly. "I would remember you." She held out the cup again and Janet took a slow drink, trying to settle her suddenly roiling mind. "The past is past."

"What was done to you... to your mother..." The bedridden woman frowned. "Your _parents_." She corrected herself quietly. "Was horrible beyond belief. And what they planned to do to you _after_..."

"It is over." Sara said, her face relaxing as the palpable sorrow in Janet's voice soothed her a little. "It turned out... reasonably okay. I am alive, Mom is alive."

"And the Tenno who they hurt to make you?" The hate that soured out of Janet's mouth had Sara recoil a little. The cup... didn't shift, Janet noted. Iron control in that little girl who wasn't one. "We were trying to stop them, Sara. You don't have to believe me, but I remember that. We were trying to get an agent in to see what they were doing. When we found out..." She took another sip of the soup to calm herself.

"I thought your memory was wiped." Sara said, a bit concerned.

"My memory is a mess." Janet said with a sigh. "Before I was told the truth. Before I swore to the Lotus... it is patchy. Some of that was intentional. The last mission I ran strictly for the Clergy, apparently I took a memory implant that covered a bunch of stuff up. Like the fact that I was married to my partner and had two kids." She couldn't -quite- keep the bitterness from her voice. "After that, it is blank." She tried to shrug and couldn't. "Ow." She commented. "That was dumb." She said with a sigh. "Anyway... we found out what they planned. We found another... prototype... She was... kind, scared but kind."

"Another?" Sara's voice turned sharp. "_Another_ C&C MOA?"

"It...wasn't finished." Janet said quietly. "She wasn't... They hadn't been able to finish her. She was alone and scared. Crying. We took her. Hid her away. Helped her." Her smile turned sad. "She called herself Sheila." Sara stared at her and then slowly relaxed.

"I have a sister..." Sara said quietly. "Another..."

"'_Another'_?" Janet said weakly, then snarled. "No! I am not cleared!" She snapped. But...something...

"Janet?" Sara's voice was worried as Janet felt...something happen. "Janet!" Sara's voice was sharp with fear as Janet felt her world start to fray. "Janet! Stay! We need you!"

_I... _Dimly Janet heard alarms start to wail. _Help?_ She begged.

_No!_ A familiar voice sounded in Janet's head. _No, Janet, you can't do this! Not yet! You are not ready!_

Janet could do nothing as her world dissolved into a haze of blue, green and gold.


	3. Chapter 3

**Visions**

Janet was watching. Somehow. She wasn't able to move, to speak. Just to watch as a scene appeared in front of her. The place was a Corpus facility from the signs and machinery. A Jackal mech stood, it's guns smoking as a violet hulled MOA fell over, obviously it's target. But it was the black armored Banshee warframe that took all of Janet's attention. Two? No... This _wasn't_ Two.

_"__**No!**__" Serene screamed, jumping out of cover and running at the Jackal while throwing sonar at the thing. Her HUD picked up a weak spot and she pummeled it with her bolto until it ran out of bolts, then dropped it and drew both of her skanas, stabbing and slicing at the robot's closest leg. It convulsed under fire from the other two Tenno, then fell again and she plunged her swords into it's innards again and again and again. She stabbed it until it stopped moving and then she kept stabbing it._

_"Serene..." The voice seemed to come from far away. She looked up to see Excalibur aiming at her again, but Alicia was not. The Trinity spoke softly. "It's dead."_

_Serene ignored Excalibur as she rose, dragging her swords from the machine's guts. It had about twenty holes in it, all skana sized. She shook her swords off and sheathed them on her back, walking to where the violet hulled MOA lay twitching. One of it's legs lay far away and the other ended above the reversed knee. Massive craters had been blown in it's hull, showing burnt and blackened machinery inside. She knelt beside it, scared. The two other Tenno looked at each other, but she ignored them._

_"Sierra?" The Banshee asked, hesitant._

_"Is it dead, Mom?" Sierra asked weakly. "Did... Did we get it?"_

_"We did, honey." Serene said sadly as she touched the still machine. It was...cooler under her fingers. "We got it. How bad are you hurt?"_

_"Diagnostics are offline, mom." Sierra said slowly. "Nothing hurts, but... I don't think that is a good sign. Is it?" Her tone was odd, not fearful. More resigned._

_"No." Serene said sadly. "It isn't." She turned to the others. "Alicia...?" She begged the healer._

_"I wouldn't know where to start, Serene." Alicia said sadly. She scanned the MOA and shook her head. "This is an unholy mix of tech and organic. And some of the tech is Orokin tech." She said uneasily. "I am amazed they got this lash up to work at all. I am sorry, Serene. I can't help her." Serene started to sob quietly._

_"Mom, don't cry. It was my choice. To help you. I will be free soon." Sierra said gently. "Here..." A port opened on an undamaged part of the MOA. A datamass slid out. Serene took the data packet and held it out behind her, not caring who took it. One of the others did. "The data on the Control MOAs and how they were designed and this one produced. And... code for the vault..." Another port opened and a data pad slid into Serene's hand. This one she kept. "I... I am sorry, Mom. I messed up." _

_"You didn't mess up, Sierra, you did fine." Serene reassured her stricken daughter who had started to cry again. "Easy... Easy..." She crooned._

_"Don't... Don't let them... do this... to any... more... girls..." Sierra said, her voice fading and then vanishing._

_"I won't." Serene promised. There was no reply. "Sierra?" She reached for the MOA. "Sierra?" She begged, heart in her voice. "Sierra, please...?" She shook the still form, but it didn't respond, didn't move. "No." _

_She bowed her head and felt something inside her give way. Something dark and terrible reared within her and for the first time in a __**very**__ long time, Serene did not repress her inner darkness. Indeed, she __**embraced**__ it. A calm settled over her. The calm before the __**storm**__..._

"Oh... my... god..." Janet swallowed hard as the...vision faded. "Sara's sister... I..." She was crying. "Family..." She jerked as the scene changed. "What the...?

_"Dad?" The young woman asked as the man in the chair held the gurgling baby gently. "Mom isn't coming back, is she?"_

_"Reverend Mother?" Zacharias asked the old woman in the nun's habit who stood behind him._

_"I am afraid not, Jesselle." The leader of the Corpus Clergy said sadly. "She had to make a choice. She chose to stop an evil. I can say no more."_

_"Is she... alive?" The girl begged._

_"Alive and as well as she can be." The nun replied sadly. "If the Board catch her, they will kill her. Both to spite me and for betraying us. She knew she couldn't come back. We... couldn't fix the damage that was done, Jesselle. Both to her memory and to her body. I...wanted to tell her bring her back to you and your brother. But... she wasn't fertile anymore."_

_"Only fertile females allowed in the colony." Jesselle said with a sigh. "And breeders." She looked at her father who nodded slowly. "I am ready to serve."_

'Serve'? As a _breeding mother_? Janet felt the blood drain from her face and then she was screaming again, but none of the people in the scene in front of her took notice.

_"No Jesselle." The Reverend Mother said gently. "You have two years yet left before your term of service begins. Don't waste them on thoughts of vengeance. There is too much hate and strife as it is. Hold tight to your family and know that even if your mother doesn't remember you, she __does__ love you. Never doubt that. Janet is alive and I hope she is well. I pray she stays far, far away from any of our holdings. I... do not want to have to order her execution if she is caught. And I would have no choice."_

_"I know." The girl was crying softly as Zacharias leaned close and held her gently. The Reverend Mother stepped close and took hold as well, all sharing the grief of a lost loved one._

"What is going on?" Janet begged the stillness around her. "What is this? The past? The future? I... No!" She begged as the scene changed yet again.

_This time, the room was huge. A Grineer facility. Grineer stood all around. Some held weapons ready, others looked to a dais on which two huge thrones had been built. Janet quailed. She knew what this was even if she had no idea __**where**__ it was. If anyone did find the Grineer Queens, well,... The Corpus had nuclear weapons and would use them. But it was the small, still form that lay at the base of the dais that had Janet freezing in shock and fear. Human... Female... Dark hair... She couldn't see the face and Janet was suddenly glad of that. Nothing living was quite that still, and the bullet holes in the human female's clothing showed what had killed her. But it was the __**other**__ form that stood by the dead human that had Janet quailing down to her toes. The black Nekros warframe bent down and touched her cheek gently. Then he stood up again._

_"__**That**__was a mistake." Nikis said in a cold and deadly voice. "She was __**no threat**__ to you."_

_"We rule here, Tenno." The voice was... odd. Was it two voices or one? "You will die now."_

_"Oh yes." Nikis replied offhandedly. "But so will __**you**__." Many of the Grineer in the room stepped back from the sheer malevolence in the ancient Nekros' voice. "She was a good soul. So much like my Kalina... So... out of respect for __**her**__. I will give you one chance, ya evil bitches. Let me leave with her body and I won't come back. Don't...and this is gonna get... messy. Very, very messy." The matter of fact tone belied the dark and sinister forces that swirled within it. "You think you know evil? You don't have a __**clue**__." His chuckle was cold and hard. More than one Grineer quailed from it. One of the shadowed form on the thrones made a gesture and a Grineer in ornate armor raised a weapon, but the Nekros waved and the clone fell. Then he... dissolved into orange energy that flowed into the Nekros' armored glove. "You have no idea what you done, ya silly cows..."_

_"Vor!" The odd voices demanded. "Defend your queens!"_

_A form shimmered into being halfway up the dais between the thrones and the Nekros. But he stood still. Captain Vor was a known threat, but...after his supposed death at the hands of a Tenno strike team he had become far, far worse in many ways. Appearing and disappearing at random. Striking Tenno, Corpus and Infested as he deemed. But... _

_"You..." The spectral Grineer sounded afraid. "No... Not __**you**__. Not here.. not now! My Queens! Let him go!"_

_"Go? Why would I go? I have what I want here and now. Even energy forms can __**die**__, Vor." Nikis said softly, menace oozing from every pore. "You are part of the database, but I __**control**__ it now. I won the Game. The power is __**mine**__. Orokin is __**mine**__."_

_"__**What**__ have you __**done**__?" Vor screamed as power flared from the Nekros. Awful power. "No!"_

_"For so long, I have played the nice guy. The somewhat addled old coot with only a few lapses here and there." Nikis said softly as a wave of energy pulsed from his body, instantly incinerating fifty Grineer who stood too close. All the rest retreated. The Queen sat on their thrones, a shield of some kind between them and the furious Nekros. "That is __**over**__. First my wife, then my son, then Kori... Now Janet..."_

Janet went still as some of the power flowed around the corpse at Nikis' feet and the hair moved. It had _her_ face! She was screaming again as the Nekros raised both his hands. Vor gave a shrill scream and seemed to evaporate. Whatever composed him was pulled into the Nekros' open palms.

_"I won't leave this room and I DON'T CARE!" Nikis screamed aloud, madness sounding clearly. "I will make every last one of you BURN for eternity! Everything in this SYSTEM will BURN! I am Nikis, Grandmaster of the Tenno. I am __Caretaker__ of the Dead no longer! Now I OWN the dead! And you... You.. __**ALL OF YOU**__! Are __**DEAD**__!" _

_Power flared and everything in the room was turned to ash, but the power... didn't stop... Nikis stood for a moment, shadowed in the corona of his unleashed power. His armor was melting off as Janet watched and his face... His ageless face was streaked with tears. The curmudgeon gunfighter was crying as the power of death flared across the entire solar system! Everywhere Janet looked, things died! The sun... winked out like a cheap candle flame. Planets... evaporated... Parents with their children, soldiers at their posts, craftsmen at their tasks, all had a bare moment to feel fear before they all were washed away. Then Nikis too wavered and he too was gone. Then there was nothing... just darkness._

"NO!" Janet was screaming aloud, writhing, trying to fight the image that had been seared into her brain. Nikis dissolving in his power. Everything in the room... in the SOLAR SYSTEM dissolving in his unleashed, untempered, undiluted _**power**_... A crack sounded and pain flared across her back, but she was beyond noticing. Or caring.

"Janet!" The voice was familiar. Sara. This was Sara! A hand was on her arm as worried voices spoke around her. "Janet, please! Come on, stay with us!"

"Let me die..." Janet croaked. "If I die... he won't love me... He won't..." Something gripped her arm and she was falling, but she was screaming in terror as she fell. Then... she wasn't. She was calm, but... it was imposed. She was still terrified, but somehow it didn't touch her.

_Janet, Janet..._ The odd voice was calling to her. _Easy... It is a __possible__ future. Not immutable. Easy, I am sorry. I didn't mean to let you see that. You were not supposed to be able to do that. Not yet. Once you went, I figured to let you see your family. Nothing more. You are far more strong willed that I had thought. It... isn't set, Janet. You can __change__ it!_

_He killed everything... for me... I... _Janet felt arms around her and sobbed as someone held her.

_No._ The voice said sadly. _It was not just you. Nikis has been falling for a long, long time. His love for his son kept him sane. His hate for the Lotus and the Elders kept him focused. Now...? He has lost those. His sanity is crumbling and he __**knows**__ it. He is seeking death, but there are few foes who could __**possibly**__ give it to him and most of those know better than to __**try**__._

_I don't want to be responsible for the death of everything... _Janet begged.

_You are not._ The voice reassured her as the arms around her gave a squeeze. _I am here to help Janet. That is what friends are for. And you __**are**__ my friend._

_Wha-? _Janet pleaded, trying to arc her head around to see who held her. _Who? _But she couldn't move. It should have frightened her, but it didn't.

_Not yet. _The voice said gently as lethargy dragged her down. But this time, the voice was singing. The tune was unfamiliar, but the words were Old Earth Russian. A lullaby. Janet was comforted as she fell asleep.

* * *

><p>"What the <em>hell<em> was that?" Sara demanded as the doctor's slowly withdrew from Janet's now still form. They had finally gotten her to stop convulsing, placed her in what amounted to a chemically induced coma. But they couldn't leave her that way for long. Sara rubbed her cheek where Janet's hand had caught her and shook her head. "That...wasn't the woman I had been talking to."

"I don't know, Sara." Chirurgeon said with a sigh. "For now, she is stable. This is... unlike anything I have ever encountered. I will need to do some research." He nodded to her. "Come by when you get the chance. We need to see to the bruising before Serene sees it." Sara gulped and nodded. Serene had all the grace of an angry mama wolverine when Sara was hurt.

"I...will, but for now... I will stay with her..." Sara said weakly as the doctors packed up their gear and left. Another presence came.

"Sara." Eliza's voice was worried. "You okay? I heard...some of it."

"She was begging us to kill her, Empress." Sara said weakly. "I am not sure why. She said..." Sara paused and thought back. "She said 'If I die, he won't love me.' Whatever that means." She was shivering and a blanket wrapped around her. She nodded her thanks to the Empress who nodded back.

"That sounds like a vision than a nightmare." Eliza mused. Sara looked at her oddly and Eliza shrugged. "Some Tenno have used meditation to see the past and future. Supposedly..." She made air quotes. "...some humans could do it. It was never well documented."

_For good reason._ The voice was odd. Eliza grabbed Sara and recoiled as a form appeared beside Janet's bed. Both of the Empress' guards had weapons up and ready, but the figure did not move. _Please do not fire. My form is not there and all you will do is kill Janet._

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Eliza demanded.

_My name?_ The figure paused and shook it's head. _It has been a long, long time. But... I think my name was Mira. I think... Please, don't hurt Janet. She saved me. I want to help. I didn't mean to hurt her. When she...travelled... I went with her. I just wanted to show her family to her. I should have known better. And as for being here? I am not. Not really. This is a projection._

"How?" Sara demanded, not moving from where the Empress had placed her. Behind one of the guards and near the door.

_I don't know, to tell the truth._ The form said sadly. _I have just always been able to do it. Master Rasputin said it had something to do with spectral transposition, but I never listened that well in his classes. He was... boring._ The form wavered and suddenly a young girl in archaic looking clothing stood by Janet's bed. She bowed to the Empress. _I am not your enemy, Empress Eliza. Janet saved me from the Corpus. I wanted to help her._

"That attire is nineteenth century Russian..." Eliza said slowly. "_Mira...?_" Her eyes went wide.

_There is much I cannot say, Empress Eliza._ _I should not have revealed myself._ The young woman said sadly. _But Janet was hurting. I am not your enemy. I __**am**__ Janet's friend. _With that, her form wavered and was gone.

"Mira?" Sara asked slowly and carefully. Instead of answering, Eliza pulled a pad from a pocket and keyed it on. A few key strokes and a holo shone over it. A face with text underneath it. The face was the same but the name _wasn't_ Mira. "Maria Nikolaevna of Russian. Grand Duchess. Daughter of the last Tsar. Murdered in 1918...?" Sara looked at Eliza quizzically . Eliza shrugged.

"I read a lot." Eliza said with a smile. "History was always my thing. History of royalty seemed appropriate. There was always some question as to whether or not the children of the Tsar were killed with him or they escaped or were doubles. It was never answered fully. Sure looked like her, didn't it?"

"So... either we have ghost..." Sara said slowly. "Or... something..."

"Or something." Eliza said with a sigh as she reached out and slowly turned Sara's face around with a gentle finger. She shook her head. "Better get that seen to before Serene sees it. The _last_ thing we need is for her to get angry again."

The last time, Serene had broken a few pieces of furniture. Things that were supposed to be indestructible were... _not_ around the former Banshee when she got angry.

"That bad, huh?" Sara asked weakly. Eliza nodded. "I will. But... Janet should not be left alone..."

"Michelle is covering my meetings." Eliza said as she sat. Her guards stood by the door. Sara stared at the Empress and Eliza bowed her head. "I don't know what is going on, but... I do know that Janet is hard to scare. For _her_ to be _that_ terrified..." Sara gulped and nodded.

"It is going to be bad." Sara said with a nod as she left the room.

"Empress..." The Banshee who was still guarding her sounded worried. "The recording..." The room's sensors were very powerful, they had literally followed everything Janet had seen in her mind. Eliza had seen it in real time and been shaken herself.

"For now, we watch and ward." Eliza said quietly, but with command. "I won't execute her without _far_ more cause than a scary vision."

"Even one of Nikis destroying everything in the system for her."


	4. Chapter 4

**Echoes of Anger**

When Janet woke, she was aware of several things. One, she wasn't where she had was. The room was larger and more comfortable. It's decor was very like the Tower that Iriana worked at, but... subtly more so. Two, her neck and back no longer hurt. A dull ache pervaded much of her body, but nothing _hurt_. And three? She wasn't _alone_. The woman sitting beside her was familiar, but that was odd, since Janet had never seen her before. And what was that on her head? Janet's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull when the crown on the woman's head started to glow softly.

"Hello Janet." The woman said quietly. "Back with us for good?"

"I..." Janet glanced away, seeing two Tenno in warframes at the door. Both were... Prime frames. But... She had never seen a Banshee Prime or a Trinity Prime before. She fell back on her training. "This room isn't secure." She said weakly as she lay back.

"It is as secure as we are going to get." The woman wearing the crown said quietly. "And far more comfortable than the cell. Right now, that is important. For you."

"Do I know you?" Janet fought to keep a pleading note from her voice and sort of succeeded.

"You have been semi conscious for some time." The woman said quietly. "My name is Eliza and I have been sitting here for a bit, getting you to drink when I could. My daughter Michelle, Sara and Sara's parent Serene have also taken turns."

"How long was I asleep?" Janet said weakly. "And... Please tell me that was dream. A _nightmare_."

"Almost forty eight hours." Eliza's voice was sad now. "And... I wish I could. I don't know, Janet." She shook her head. "The others... don't know what you saw. I do. The scanners in that room were reading your brain impulses. They tracked your mind when it went...wherever it went. Your body...reacted badly to what happened and it took some work to heal. But it has. Now we need to face this. Stop it."

"Should have let me die." Janet said fiercely. "I mean... If he doesn't... fall for me... Then..." She shook her head. "This is _insane_! I _hated_ Tenno! I can barely _stand_ Nikis. It was... partly imposed, but..."

"Part was the memory implant. Part was your injuries." Eliza agreed. Janet goggled at her and Eliza quirked a smile. "I have authorization. Intelligence reports to me." Janet stared at her and then at the crown. Eliza nodded. "Yes, I lead the remnants of Orokin."

"Empress..." Janet felt faint. "I..." She bowed her head. "Command me." She said weakly.

"Stop that." Eliza said sharply. Janet jerked upright and the woman was actually _glaring_ at her. "You are trained. A strong and tough operative of Intelligence. _Act it_!" She snapped. Janet felt her spine straighten a little and then she nodded.

"I am afraid." Janet said softly.

"_Anyone_ would be after what you saw." Eliza said, her tone gentling. "Nikis is terrifying enough as it _is_. But _that_..." She shook her head. "He was mad at me once. I deserved it, but sheesh... I _never_ want to go through that again." Her voice turned conspiratorial. "To tell you the truth? I went in my _robes_." . Janet tried to stop the laugh that bubbled out of her, but the Empress cracked a smile and Janet relaxed a little.

"Can't say I blame you." Janet said weakly. "Oh..." She wilted a bit. "Why me? I mean... I get he is a male. I get he is alone. But I am not Tenno. I... He was married, yes?"

"He was." Eliza said sadly. "She died. It was... bad. What happened to her." Janet slumped a bit.

"What do I do?" Janet begged. "I was married. I had kids... I won't ever see them again... but I _was_ married."

"What can we _ever_ do, Janet?" Eliza asked gently. "We go on." She shook her head slowly. "Can you sit up?" Janet thought about that for a moment and then slowly levered herself up until she was sitting upright. Her head swam a bit, but she stayed that way. "Tough..." Eliza said with a smile.

"Determined." Janet said, cracking a tiny smile that faded. "Empress... I... I don't know what to say. What to do." Then she jerked. "Wait... I need to report! To tell people..."

"Janet..." Eliza's voice was kind now. "Until we know what happened and why or how to stop what you saw from occurring... You are _off_ status." Janet grimaced, but nodded. If Nikis was in love with her and she went off and got hurt again... Worse, if she was caught by the _Grineer_... She shivered. Eliza saw that and frowned. "Are you cold?"

"Not... physically." Janet said with a wince. "But seeing that... I still get chills. Seeing my _dead body_ at his feet was bad enough. Seeing him extinguish the system like a cheap light with its circuit cut?" She swallowed hard and Eliza mimicked her. "I knew he was powerful, but... geez."

"Janet." Eliza said gently. "Stop thinking about it. _You_ are in control, not your memory of that horror." Janet looked at her, eyes glistening and then nodded slowly. "Are you hungry? We have a meal ready for you."

"I... think so." Janet thought for a moment and then nodded. "Yes. I am hungry." But then she paused. "Why are you here?" She asked, concerned. "I am just an Operative."

"No, you are not 'just an Operative'. Right now, you are the _single_ most important person in this solar system." Eliza said with a sigh. Janet froze and Eliza nodded. "Get used to it. You will not be left alone or unprotected."

"I... don't understand." Janet said weakly.

"Janet..." Eliza sighed heavily. "I do not have the right to speak of this to you. Your meal will be here in a few minutes. When it does, the guards will step outside. The person bringing the meal and someone else will talk to you. It will be as private a conversation as we can make it. _I_ won't be able to hear what you say." Janet's eyes went wide at that and she shivered again. Eliza shook her head and rose. Janet did not move as the Empress went to a barely visible locker, grabbed a blanket and brought it to the bed. Her eyes went wide as Eliza wrapped the blanket around her. "I can't say this will be okay, Janet." Eliza said as she retreated a step. Both guards had tensed, Janet noticed, but neither had drawn weapons. "All I can say is that _we_ will help as _we_ can." This was the royal 'We'. "Keeping you from getting a chill is the least we can do." The door chimed and Eliza nodded."That is your meal. We will go now."

"Empress... I..." Janet swallowed hard and then bowed her head. "Do what you must."

"We will." Eliza said formally. "But... that does not involve taking your life. For all we know... that could set him off as well." Janet went still at that and then nodded slowly. Eliza's voice was gentle as she moved to the door. "You are not alone, Janet."

Then she was gone. The guards nodded to Janet and left as well. Before she could even blink, a woman in a gown had stepped in, a tray in hand. Her legs were artificial.

"Hello Janet." The woman said and Janet _knew_ the voice!

"Serene?" Janet stammered. "I..."

"Eliza was...circumspect about what happened." The Tenno she had last seen in a vision about to go berserk sounded... painfully normal. "But Sara said you were crying in your sleep. She said you were talking about seeing her sister die." Serene set the tray down on a table that Janet hadn't seen and sat in the chair Eliza had recently vacated. "What did you see?"

"You were fighting a Jackal." Janet said in a monotone. "It hurt Sierra and you killed it."

"Yeah, I did." Serene said heavily. "Not... my finest hour." She paused as Janet growled. "What?"

"She was your kid." Janet snapped. "My people..." She shook her head. "The Corpus are not my people now, but they _were_... My people took your daughters. They hurt Sara and they killed Sierra. _I_ would have nuked the place."

"Oh, I pretty much did..." Serene said with the ghost of a smile that faded. "Sara said you mentioned another?"

"The Clergy were investigating odd rumors that had come out of that lab." Janet said with a wince. "We acted as a secret police force on many occasions. What the _scum_ did there was just plain wrong. My... husband and I were tasked to infiltrate the place, find out what was going on. His cover was a doctor. Mine was a tech."

"You were both lucky not to be there when I went." Serene said with no trace of arrogance. Simple fact.

"Indeed." Janet agreed sourly. "I found an odd MOA hiding in a closet. It was... crying." She said with a sigh. Serene went still and Janet nodded. "MOAs do not cry so I knew something was wrong instantly. I broke cover. I took the MOA and ran. When we got her back to our base, she started babbling. It took some time to calm her down, but we were gentle. She was just a kid..." Janet said sadly. "Just a kid." She bowed her head.

"Sierra was a day old." Serene said softly. "What.. was her name?"

"Is." Janet said quietly. Serene went still and Janet shook her head. "Don't even think about it. Tenno are good. I know that to my cost. But there _are_ limits. She is in one of the breeding colonies. The security there is airtight. Literally. There is no way in or out for your kind."

"Why keep her?" Serene demanded. "If she was a failed experiment..."

"She was a _kid_!" Janet snapped at the Tenno and Serene actually recoiled. "A hurt, scared, crying little girl! I had... _have_ a little girl! No, I was not _about_ to _leave_ her there or let the Board _downsize_ her!" She shook herself. "Sorry... She... I wasn't prepared to love her. But I do. We all do. She is special."

"I find that very hard to believe." Serene said after a moment.

"After your own experiences with the Corpus?" Janet said with a sigh. "I am not surprised." She shook herself again. "We called her Sheila. She liked the name."

"Why all the 'S's?" Serene asked carefully. "I mean... Sara... I called Sierra that because I didn't want to call her Sara Jr or something equally idiotic. But _Sheila_?"

"Serene..." Janet's voice turned gentle. "The project's label was 'S'." Serene recoiled and Janet nodded. "For your name."

"How much did they _get_ from me?" Serene asked, stunned. "And from Amelia?" She was not expecting Janet to _laugh_. "Excuse me?" She demanded.

"Serene, they didn't get _diddly-squat_ from you." Janet said with a wide smile. "They didn't even get your _name_ until they pulled Amelia in. I..." She slumped a bit. "I was one of the ones detailed to clean up the mess. After." She eyed Serene a little. "And you made one _hell_ of a mess. I couldn't have done better myself." She sounded appreciative.

"It was what I did." Serene said quietly.

"And you were damn good at it." Janet said with a smile. "Sheila is safe." She said quietly. "The only Corpus allowed in the breeding colonies are either Clergy or _very_ closely watched. The Clergy will protect her. She was a child who was abused. Most of our agents... were abused. As children or on the job. We all saw it daily. We tend to err on the side of _overkill_ in cases like that. From what little I remember, she was training to be an adjunct to our healers. Anyone trying to hurt her again will die."

"On _that_ we can agree." Serene said with a smile. "You food is getting cold." She said with a nod to the table.

"A mother hen Tenno. Now I have seen everything." Janet said with a matching smile. Cold and dark, but at the same time, warm and loving as odd as that sounded. It worked. She reached for the tray and started piling pancakes. "Haven't had these in a while."

"I had never had them that I remember." Serene said with a shrug. "Before I came here anyway. Eliza makes great pancakes through and the staff try to emulate her."

"She shouldn't have shown herself to me." Janet took a bite and savored it. "I am a security risk."

"Janet, you heard her and she is right. Right now, you are the _single_ _most_ precious thing in this system." Serene said as Janet took another bite. "I know that makes you uncomfortable... Hell, Nikis terrifies everyone _sane_." The former Banshee said with a sigh. "It is what he _is_. What he _does_. What he has done for a long, long time. As bad as _me_ losing it was...he is _exponentially_ worse. Maybe logarithmically." She mused.

"No argument." Janet said, her meal turning into a lump of lead in her stomach. But she continued to eat. "I don't get it though. Why would he fall for _me_?"

"I don't know." Serene said quietly. "I doubt _he_ does." Janet looked at her over the last bite of pancake and Serene sighed deeply. "Janet, you are human. We Tenno _came_ from humans. Like it or not, we share a number of things. Emotions are one of them."

"External anatomy for another." Janet said with a frown as she mopped up a little spilled syrup with her finger, then licked it. "These were good." Serene smiled at that but remained silent. "What do I do, Serene?" Janet asked plaintively. "I mean...? He is Tenno. I am human. If I was Tenno or _he_ was human, we could try things out, see if we were compatible. But..." She shrugged helplessly as Serene removed the tray and set it aside. Janet's eyes popped as the tray simply vanished. "What the-...?"

"They have extra power for what you or I would call frivolous things." Serene said with a nod. "They don't think anything of using a quantum entanglement transporter to move dirty dishes." At that, Janet whistled in awe and Serene nodded. "They make up for it in being so tight on physical resources you can hear the Salvage creak under their tight fingers." Janet almost laughed, but then she realized that Serene was being totally serious. "This place has hidden since the Collapse and it has survived by recycling _everything_."

"Oh." Janet deflated a bit. "So... Eliza really _is_ the Empress of Orokin?"

"Yes." Serene said with a sigh. "And said Empire consists of less than six thousand people." Janet went still at that and Serene nodded. "I don't have to tell you how the Corpus would react if they found out about this place." Janet shook her head savagely.

"It wouldn't be good." Janet said with a gulp. "The words 'feeding frenzy' come to mind." Serene nodded.

"_If_ we were that lucky." Serene said quietly. "They might just send robotic reclamation units. Tear the whole place down with the people still inside to get the tech." Janet gulped again and Serene nodded. "Why should _they_ care if a few thousand humans die in the process?"

"They might not." Janet said sternly. "I _would_. They will not find out from me." This was an oath and Serene nodded a little. "So... what can I do? I mean... I am not Tenno."

"You could be." Serene said softly. Janet stared at her.

"Excuse me?" Janet asked, trying very hard to keep her voice level. "You cannot mean that."

"Janet." Serene's voice was kind now. "Tenno evolved from humans with the help of the Technocyte Virus. The First Tenno was exposed to the virus and changed as a result. Some of the others who followed him were as well. But not all."

"I don't understand." Janet said weakly.

"I know." Serene smiled a little sadly. "And this is coming at you very fast. Suffice it to say that humans _have_ become Tenno in the past. It took time and not a little work, but it _was_ done."

"I...can't see that." Janet said softly, her mind whirling. "I mean... yes, you _look_ human. But you are not."

"No, I am not." Serene sighed. "Janet, you do not need to make any choices. We are going to be giving you information. Options. No more. No one sane will pressure you into doing anything." Janet forced herself to relax from the stillness she had assumed when Serene dropped her bombshell. Serene nodded. "It has been done, but not recently. I don't know how safe it would be. We lost... a lot."

"Everyone did." Janet agreed sadly. "That... might work. If I were Tenno I would be his equal. But then again... if my being human is what is attracting him..." She paused as Serene shook her head. "Yes?"

"No one I know of is Nikis' _equal_, Janet." Serene said quietly. Janet went still and Serene nodded again. "He is far, far older than anyone outside of the Tenno has guessed. Maybe your Reverend Mother knows. No one else, I don't believe." Janet was shaking her head and Serene sighed. "He has survived everything the universe had thrown at him and shrugged it off. Often laughing at it." Janet gulped and Serene laid a gentle hand on hers. "He is only one of _two_ people I have ever met who told an Orokin ruler to 'F*** off' and _got away_ with it."

At that, Janet actually jerked. "He _didn't_..." She wasn't sure if she amazed, amused or even _more_ afraid.

"Oh yes, he did." A new voice answered her. Janet went still as a hologram appeared in the middle of the room. The female Tenno wore a Zephyr warframe without a helmet. She nodded to Serene, but her eyes were on Janet. "He had cause, mind you."

"Hello Janet. My name is Kalina."


	5. Chapter 5

**Till Death do us part**

"Kalina?" Janet felt her world start to spin in circles. "Nikis' wife was named Kalina... He cried her name as... as he destroyed everything..." Serene laid a hand on Janet's and Janet surprised herself by gripping it tightly. Serene let her cling.

"I was his wife." The hologram Tenno said quietly. "For some definitions of the word, I still am. I am not gone. Not completely."

"But... you died..." Janet felt her sanity start to fray and Serene gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I did." Kalina said quietly. "And it hurt Nikis very badly. He tried to be a good man. So very hard. It...wasn't who he was."

"Kalina. She is terrified." Serene said softly. Janet was shivering. "Janet..." She gave Janet's hand another squeeze. "It's okay. She isn't a ghost. Not a boogeyman of some kind. She is..." She paused as Kalina sighed.

"Technically, you _could_ call me a ghost of sorts." Kalina said, kneeling so as to place herself below Janet. A visible means of showing she was not a threat."I am not going to hurt you, Janet. I won't." Her tone was...entreating now? Unshed tears shone in her eyes as well.

"How?" Janet begged, holding on to Serene's hand for dear life. "How can you be here?"

"Orokin was a time of wonders, Janet." Serene said quietly, not moving. Letting Janet work her way through her emotions. "And _horrors_. Some... people thought it was a good idea to keep copies of the minds of loved ones after those loved ones passed. It... spiraled out of control."

"Yes, it did." Kalina said softly. "Oh Janet, I am not your enemy. I am not here to hurt you. I want to _help_. Will you let me?" She begged.

"I don't know what to do!" Janet wailed and then she was sobbing. The next thing she knew, Serene was sitting on the bed, holding her gently as Janet sobbed uncontrollably. "I don't even _like_ him!" Her voice trailed off into a wailing scream of horror and frustration.

"That's it, Janet..." Serene crooned softly. "Let it out."

It could have been minutes or hours later, but Janet finally ran out of tears. Serene gave her a squeeze and a cup found its way under her lips. She took a slow, careful sip and the water soothed her burning throat. She was shaking as Serene held her carefully with one hand and held the cup to her mouth with the other.

"Thank you, Lis." Serene's voice seemed to come from far away and Janet looked up to see a golden skinned form retreating toward the door. The woman had golden hoops on her forehead! Corrupted! Janet should have been afraid, but for some reason, she wasn't. "Easy, Janet. She wanted to help."

"It's... always... _something_ around you Tenno... isn't it?" Janet managed to gasp out. Serene chuckled without mirth. The Corrupted...bowed _to Janet_ and left the room.

"Ah yes." Serene said quietly, giving Janet another squeeze. "Better?"

"Yes." Janet felt...lighter now. She wasn't alone in this. She had known that, intellectually. But having this kind of reassurance helped a great deal. "Thank you, Serene. Kalina?" She looked around, but the holo had vanished.

"She is still listening, but she had to vanish when Lis came in." Serene said with a sigh. "Rules, you understand."

"Not really." Janet said in a tiny voice, taking another sip from the cup that Serene held to her mouth. "But I will take your word for it."

"I don't know them myself." Serene said quietly. "The only ones who do are sworn not to speak of it. Caretakers of the Dead. Like Nikis." Janet tensed at the name, but then forced herself to relax. "What I _do_ know is that many of our ancestor's shades reside in databases scattered around the remnants of the system. Orokin and Tenno alike." Something about that was familiar, but Janet pushed it aside.

"And that is what Nikis used, wasn't it?" Janet said slowly.

"I didn't see your vision, Janet." Serene said softly. "And from _Eliza's_ reaction? I am _glad_. She is hard to shake, but she _was_. I have never heard her talking about getting _drunk_ before. I think it was a joke, but I am not sure."

"It was...awful." Janet said, taking another slow, careful sip. "I saw... myself... lying dead at his feet... And he... he..." She slumped a bit.

"Who, Janet?" Kalina's voice preceded her appearing. "Who had killed you in the vision you saw?"

"Grineer." Janet said softly. Serene gave her another squeeze and Janet appreciated the comfort. "I don't know how or why, but she... _I_ had bullet holes in..." She trailed off, unable to continue.

"It's okay, Janet." Serene said, holding her gently. "It will be okay."

"You don't know that!" Janet snapped, ire rising. "I can accept _my_ death. I _can_."Serene and Kalina looked at her and Janet shook her head. "Part of being human is being mortal. The Board members may be able to live for hundreds or thousands of years for all I know, through judicious use of technology. But most of us? We couldn't afford such. Even if I wasn't gunned down or cut up... My life span wouldn't be more than a hundred and fifty years at best." Serene looked horrified now, but Kalina just nodded. "My job is dangerous. I accept that. I did when I served the Clergy and I did as an Operative for the Lotus. But this..." She shook her head. "This is..."

"Worse." Kalina said softly. Janet nodded. "I understand, Janet." Janet looked up at the holo and Kalina sighed deeply. "I didn't understand before I died. But I do now. There are worse things than death. _Far_ worse things." Janet stared at her and Kalina shook her head. "Please don't ask. I can't tell you."

"I understand." Janet said with a small hiccup. "Need to know and I don't."

"I hope you never do." Kalina said sadly. "Anyway... Serene is here and I am here to try and help you face this mess."

"Because I am the cause of whatever happens." Janet said softly. She shook her head. "I don't even _like_ him! He gives me the _creeps!_"

"He scared me too." Kalina said quietly, but she was smiling sadly. "But... Janet... Most of that is an act." Janet jerked, staring at the holo. "...because the pain that dwells within him is so dark and terrible... If he lets it run loose..." The dead Tenno grimaced. "I don't need to say it."

"No." Janet shook her head vehemently. "It was madness, what he did. He...didn't care." She paused. "He said that actually." Kalina seemed to tense and Janet nodded. "He said 'I don't care'. I got the feeling that he had. Cared. But he didn't anymore."

"That is what I have feared." Kalina said sadly. "Our son died. Died a hero, but he died. Then the most ancient of Tenno enemies returned. You saw some of that." Kalina looked at Janet as Janet nodded slowly. "He was trying to die. He let an enemy strike him down. More than once." Serene looked horrified but Kalina shook her head. "People care for him. People admire him and didn't want to let him go. None of them had any idea what was happening to him. That his sanity was eroding. If he merges with the database as he _is_... He will destabilize it."

"He said 'I won the game'." Janet said in a monotone. Both Kalina and Serene both recoiled at that and Janet nodded. "I _thought_ that was bad when I heard it. _Vor_ was terrified when Nikis said that."

"Say no more!" Kalina commanded and Janet shut her mouth with a click. "The _less_ I know of that potential future, the better." The holographic Tenno shook herself a little. "I am here because I knew and loved Nikis. Serene is here because of all of the Tenno alive and awake at the moment, she understands the darkness within him better than most." Janet looked at Serene who paled a bit but nodded. "We want to help. I don't know how though. All of us... the shades who reside in the databanks... have been trying to find alternatives. But... We also have to keep our searches from him and that is not easy. He is diligent in his duty. He always was." Fondness mixed with exasperation in the shade's tone.

"A Caretaker of the Dead..." Janet said softly. Kalina and Serene both nodded. "I never understood that particular nomenclature. But if you are not really gone... Then I guess it makes sense."

"Some." Kalina said with a sigh. "Nekros warframes allow the user to access the Orokin databanks. It is not magic although some have called it such. Necromancy was the ancient term for it. But it isn't. It is no different from manipulating programs on a computer, if on a slightly more...permanent scale."

"Any sufficiently advanced technology would be considered magic by users of any of less advanced technology." Janet said firmly. Kalina and Serene both looked at her and the human woman shrugged. "Yes, I read Arthur C. Clarke. Sue me." Serene was obviously trying not to chuckle as Janet smiled. "The Corpus used that occasionally. When they found a primitive colony, the Traders would occasionally use the 'magic' card. It didn't always work. But it was always better than killing people."

"I..." Serene shook her head. "I don't like what the Corpus does or how it does things. But the Orokin did those things and worse."

"Not all of them." Kalina said quietly. "But yes. Some of them." Something in her voice had Janet staring at the holo. "Yes, Janet. Orokin scientists killed me and took my body to experiment on." Janet's eyes went huge at that and Kalina nodded. "Nikis came looking and they caught him too. He was trying to act the nice guy. For me. To help me. They tricked him, hurt our kin using him. He did _not_ react well to that."

"I would think not." Janet said quietly. "And Dust?"

"The people who had me were trying to recreate Tenno for their own use." Kalina said quietly. Janet's eyes got even more wide and Kalina smiled gently. "Might want to close your eyes, girl. They might fall out. _Then_ where would you be?" Janet sputtered a bit at that, but nodded and relaxed. Kalina sighed and shook herself before continuing. "Those mad scientists made a young male from Nikis' and my DNA. Nikis called him 'Dustin' after my own father. He was... removed from the womb pod already infected. But he didn't change. So when Richard arrived... Nikis and Richard taught Dustin how to be Tenno."

"How did they get away?" Janet asked, caught up in the story.

"Oh, Nikis could have escaped anytime." Kalina sounded so sad now. "But he wouldn't leave me. I was brain dead from what had been done to me." Janet stared at her and Kalina shrugged. "The memories were there, but inaccessible. My body was alive and they were using it to grow clones." Janet hissed and Kalina nodded. "Didn't work out so well for them." The holo said dryly. "Richard and Nikis were bad enough _apart_. _Together_?" She shuddered dramatically.

"So your body died." Janet made the statement a question.

"Nikis killed it." Kalina said softly. Janet went still and the holo nodded. "I was dead already. But... trapped in the shell. Until they pushed him too far. He showed them what he really was. By the time the authorities got in to where they had been, Dustin, Nikis, Richard, and the clones were gone. There was _one_ survivor from that entire side of the base and _he_ was stark raving mad." Kalina shook her head. "Only a fool angers Nikis." She said with a shudder.

"I know." Janet said weakly. "But... If he loved you... and he loved Dustin... He has lost everything he loved."

"Yes. As I say, he has been trying to die." Kalina said sadly. "But we worry that if he _does_..." Janet inhaled and Serene hugged her again.

"He will cause more damage. Or go completely off the deep end, like I saw."Janet shook her head slowly. "Is there _anything_ I can do?"

"You are going to have to talk to him." Kalina's voice was quiet, but Janet tensed anyway. "No matter what you choose, hiding things from him doesn't work. We will keep looking through records, Janet. You are not alone." The shade promised her. Then she was gone.

"I..." Janet felt tears start to fall again and dashed them away angrily. "I don't know what to say, what to do."

"For now, you don't have to do anything." Serene promised her. "You have had one hell of a shock. My recommendation -such as it is- is to rest for a while. We may not have any options now, but things will change. They always do." She gave Janet another squeeze and rose. She sat back in the chair she had been in before and smiled at Janet's expression. "We are not going to leave you alone. I can get some books sent in if you like. Or we can talk."

"Talk I think..." Janet said softly. "Not that I have a clue what to say."

"One thing..." Serene said slowly. "Another...entity spoke to Sara and Eliza after you saw what you did. After you fell asleep."

"_Entity?_" Janet asked, confused. "Oh... Yeah. I am not sure what it was. But it said it was my friend. That I saved it and it wanted to repay the favor."

"Yes." Now Serene looked decidedly uncomfortable. "It took the form of a nineteenth century Russian Princess. Called itself Mira."

"And... you do not trust that." Janet's words were not a question. "It did talk to me. Calmed me down. But I don't know... I couldn't tell if it was male or female. I wouldn't know a nineteenth century Russian Princess to look at one." Serene shared a chuckle with Janet at that.

"Me neither." Serene said with a smile. "You will be under surveillance at all times, until and unless Kalina comes back or sends word." Janet slumped but nodded.

"If anything happens to me... and Nikis...reacts..." Janet said slowly. "I think I need to talk to him. Soon."

"Let me tell them it is okay to monitor." Serene rose and walked to the door. She opened it and nodded to someone outside. "We are clear. Can you send word to Nikis that Janet needs to talk to him?"

"You just _love_ making our lives difficult, don't you, Serene?" A sour voice preceded a young female into the room. Janet couldn't tell if she was Tenno or human. She had aspects of both, the curious vulnerability of a human and the confidence of a Tenno. She wore a gown very similar to the one Eliza had worn. "Hello Janet, I am Michelle. I will stay with you for a while."

"I can stay with her." Serene protested.

"Serene..." Michelle said with a smile. "Go on. Rocky needs you and you always feel better with him." Serene bristled a bit, but then nodded. "I won't _eat_ her! Go on."

"Keep me informed." Serene asked as she leaned close to kiss Janet on the cheek. "We will help you, Janet. I don't know how, but we will." She was gone before Janet could recover from the shock of such a friendly farewell. It hadn't been erotic, just...

"She means well, but Serene often has the social graces of a _thunderstorm_." Michelle said sourly as she sat. "She walked alone for a long, long time."

"She does seem a good sort." Janet said, touching her cheek where Serene had given her the peck. "But _not_ someone to anger. I saw what she left behind at Neptune." The agent shivered a bit. She tilted her head in curiosity. "Who is Rocky?"

"Her son." Michelle said with a smile. "Less than a year old and already a heartbreaker."

"Tenno?" Janet asked slowly. Michelle nodded and the agent sighed. "I... never thought of Tenno as having kids."

"The Tenno that most everyone sees won't." Michelle agreed. "Most Tenno that are out and about are Warriors. That is, they follow the Warrior's Path of the Tenno Code. But there are other paths. The Healer's Path that Iriana follows is just one of many."

"I see." Janet said with a nod. "So... do I need rehab now as well?"

"Your injuries have been healed to the best of our ability." Michelle said quietly. "But yes, you will need exercise to loosen the muscles. You can do anything you wish, within reason."

"As long as I stay in the room?" Janet asked slyly. She was not expecting Michelle to shake her head. "What?"

"You are not a prisoner, Janet." Michelle said calmly. "If you want to take a walk, or go for a swim, you can. A guard will accompany you, but that is more to keep you from being mobbed than anything else. People _will_ be curious. You are a new face and they have no idea why you are here. We would rather they not be told. The _last_ thing we need is a panic."

"I wish _I_ didn't know." Janet grimaced. Then she perked up. "_Swim?_"

"Oh yes." Michelle said with a smile. "Great exercise and the water can be recycled nearly infinitely. Want to go? I could use one too. Sitting in meetings gets _old_." She groaned dramatically and Janet had to smile.

"A swim sounds marvelous." Janet said quietly. "I haven't done it since I left the Corpus. What do I do?"

"Come with me." Michelle held out a hand and Janet took it. Janet was amazed at how strong the young looking woman was. She pulled Janet to her feet without effort. Michelle nodded. "I was Tenno once, but Tenno do not rule and I will have to someday."

"I see." Janet said as Michelle led her towards the door. "Do you think you could tell me about humans becoming Tenno?" Michelle looked at her sidelong and Janet shrugged. "Serene mentioned something about that, but it doesn't seem plausible."

"Oh yeah, it happened." Michelle led the way out the door, a Mag Prime and a Banshee Prime forming up behind the pair. "Hayden Tenno was the First, but after him came others. Some were infected with the Technocyte virus, others were not..."

Behind them a small form appeared in the middle of the room. The being who had called herself Mira shook her head slowly.

_Not that way, Janet. You will see. All too soon, you will see..._


	6. Chapter 6

**Surprises**

Janet finished toweling herself off and smiled at Michelle who was doing the same. The pool hadn't been large, but it also hadn't had many people in it. The other swimmers had been as curious as Michelle had warned, but none had pressed too closely. The two Tenno guards at poolside were probably why. Michelle had kept up with Janet easily and both women had enjoyed the swim.

"Back to the room?" Janet asked, checking her suit.

The bodysuit she had been given repelled water like nobody's business. She slid through the water like a greased eel. It would have provided life support in case of problems, which she hadn't had. She also coincidentally, wouldn't foul the water. All of the swimmers she had seen had worn similar full body suits. What was more interesting was the fact that the pool wasn't really one. It was an _aquarium_. Aquatic animals had come close to the two swimmers and looked at them, but left them alone. Janet hadn't recognized most of the animals.

"If you want." Michelle said with a nod. "You look tired."

"Stress and exercise." Janet agreed. "But I _did_ need the exercise. Thank you." She said gratefully. "This has been... a bit much."

"A bit more than '_a bit_' much." Michelle said with a snort that Janet matched. "But you are coping very well."

"You see a lot in training and then in the field." Janet said with a shrug. "But you knew that if you were Tenno."

"I was never a spy." Michelle replied easily. "While I did espionage missions on occasion, it wasn't my focus." She did not elaborate and Janet would not ask. The Princess nodded to the guard who took up station behind them. "You are handling it very well. Mother is impressed and she is hard to impress."

"The training that the Clergy agents go through is intended to make them the best they can possibly be." Janet said with a shrug. "Not superhuman, but as close as possible."

"Interesting." Michelle said with an odd look. "That sounds... similar to other training I have heard of. Elite troops of the Orokin age."

"Oh, we were not Orokin Marines or anything." Janet said with a laugh. "But we sure tried to be as close as we could." She sobered. "The job took all that and more sometimes." Michelle nodded and Janet sighed. "Yeah. I guess rest would be good. I am betting that talking to Nikis will not be fun."

"Ya _think_?" Michelle asked with a comical expression and Janet had to laugh. She liked this woman who was not a Tenno anymore. She wasn't like any Princess that...

Something was wrong! Janet could _feel_...something happening. She was...being pulled. But... where? And by _what_?

"Janet?" Michelle's voice came from far away and Janet forced herself to focus on the other woman. "What is wrong?" The other woman demanded, the guards moving close.

"I...don't know..." Janet gasped out as she felt herself start to fray. "Help me!" She begged as the world slipped from her fingers.

* * *

><p>When Janet could see again, she wished she couldn't. She was standing in the middle of a mass of infested flesh. The deck of the ship she could see was totally covered by Infested material. Despite being obviously incorporeal, she could feel the wrongness that surrounded her. All around, she could see masses of Infested. Chargers, Leapers, Runners, Ancients... She quailed inside. While working for the Corpus, she had tried to infiltrate Infested ships occasionally in the line of duty and had always been forced to flee in short order. The Infested shared some kind of link. No one had ever been able to define it to her satisfaction and...<p>

_Hello_ Janet bit back a scream as a curious voice sounded in her head. It was... odd. Neither male nor female. Not human, but with aspects of human and animal mixed in. _Who are you?_

_No! _Janet begged, trying to recoil, but her body wouldn't move.

_No need to fear._ The voice replied. It sounded... gentle? Odd that. _I know we are frightening. But you have no need to fear._ _We will not harm you. You did not intend to come here?_

_No._ Janet said weakly. Something touched her and she was babbling, aghast at her loss of control. _I don't know what is happening. I am... elsewhere. But... here too. Is this the past? The present? The future? I don't __**know**__... I..._

_Oh..._ The voice was soft and sad now. _We see._ The voice was suddenly worried. _Oh dear... this... complicates things. Easy, girl. We will not harm you. We cannot. You are not really here. We may be able to help you. Nikis. Talk to Nikis. He is coming._

_What? _Janet begged as the touch on her mind was suddenly soothing. _What do you mean?_

_You need to wake up, Janet. _The touch was so soft, so gentle. She had the feeling it didn't _have_ to be. But it _chose_ to be. _This is your present and you need to wake up. __**Now**__._

* * *

><p>Without sense of transition, Janet was lying on something soft, her throat raw as if from screaming. She stared around wildly. She was back in the room and Serene sat in a chair by the bed, the Tenno's face worried.<p>

"Oh god... it happened again..." Janet sobbed. Serene was out of the chair in an instant, holding Janet as she cried. "Why? _Why_ is this happening to me?"

"I don't know." Serene said softly, rubbing Janet's head soothingly. "Easy...Easy, Janet... it's okay. You are okay."

"Am I?" Janet demanded. "What the hell is going on, Serene?"

"Another vision?" Serene asked carefully. Janet nodded savagely. "Of what?"

"It didn't make any sense!" Janet snapped. "Infested don't _talk_ to people. They certainly are not _kind_ to people! I... I don't... I am going crazy."

"No, you ain't." Janet went totally still as the door slid open and Nikis strode in. He was pissed. But... not with her. "What you saw is real, Janet. Just... only known to a few."

"You mean to tell me there are _sentient_ Infested out there?" Janet demanded sarcastically. She went still again as he nodded. "I... No... That is not _possible_!"

"Well, it happened." Nikis said with a shrug "Possible or not, they is real and you just talked to 'em." Serene stared from Nikis to Janet and back. She gave Janet a squeeze and held the human gently as Janet cried. "Easy girl. None of this is your fault." The ancient gunfighter said quietly.

"What the hell is going on, Nikis?" Janet nearly screamed. "This isn't right! I..." She wilted in Serene's grip. "This isn't right..."

"What else have you 'seen', Janet?" Nikis put an odd inflection on the word 'seen'. "It is important." He prodded when she hissed.

"How did they know you?" Janet demanded. "How do a group of Infested know you by _name_?"

"Janet..." Nikis said slowly. "Ah hell... I am screwing this up." He knelt slowly, placing himself consciously below her. "We need privacy." He said softly as the door opened behind him again.

"Mom said you may need an official witness." Michelle looked scared and who could blame her. She knelt near a wall, as far from Nikis as she could for all the good it would do her. "If she is what we think."

"Yeah." Nikis said softly. "I think so too."

"What?" Janet tried not to shout as Serene held her in a gentle grip that was at the same time, totally unbreakable. "_What the hell is going on?_" _Now_ she was shouting.

"Janet." Nikis' voice was calm and matter of fact. "I know you are scared. Of me. Of whatever you saw. Of everything that is happening. There _is_ an explanation." Janet went still again and Nikis sighed. "Not a rational one, but I think _rational_ took a long jump out an airlock."

"I am not in love with you." Janet wanted to pull those words back in as soon as she said them, but Nikis just nodded.

"I know." Nikis agreed. "You can barely stand me. Can barely tolerate my presence. You are tough. That is what drew me. Janet... it ain't your fault." He said with a shrug. Then he said something she had never heard him say. "Please?" Janet reeled at that. Nikis was _never_ polite! _Never_! From Serene's and Michelle's stunned looks, this was a new experience to them too. "What did you see?"

"I... I saw Serene's daughter Sierra die. She corroborated what I saw." Janet said in a monotone. Serene nodded. "I saw my own family. I can't be sure... but I bet that happened as I saw. They are moving on. I can't go back." She swallowed hard.

"And?" Nikis prompted her, very gently.

"And then I saw you kill every living thing in this system." Nikis actually jerked back from Janet's soft, scared words. "To avenge _me_."

"Shit." Nikis said with heartfelt sadness. "Ah Janet..." He shook his head. "Damn it... I had hoped I was _wrong_..."

"Nikis... Please don't..." Janet begged.

"Janet..." Nikis said sadly. "I don't... There are parts of me that never see the light of day. Dark, terrible parts. I keep 'em walled off for a _reason_. I can't control 'em."

"No..." Janet pleaded, hugging Serene tight. Serene let her cling. "I don't want to be responsible for the death of everything!" She begged.

"You ain't." Nikis said quietly. "If anyone is, _I_ am. I am the elder here, Janet. I have had more relationships than you have taken _breaths_." This last was in a sour tone much more like himself. "My feelings for you are all messed up and I _can't_ go to a shrink." Janet looked the question at him and he snorted without mirth. "Amelia or Iriana would take one look at what dwells inside my head and go stark raving _mad_." No boast that, simple fact. "They are both good at what they do and they wouldn't have a chance."

"I am sorry..." Janet said weakly.

"You got _nothing_ to be sorry for, Janet." Nikis said with a sigh. "You didn't_ ask_ to be part of this mess."

"You know what is going on." Janet said slowly. Nikis nodded. "Will you tell me?"

"In a moment." Nikis' voice turned savage. "I need to be sure we are alone." Janet gave an 'Eep' as dark energy played form his hands to waft across the room. Everything stopped as a scream sounded from one corner of the room. Michelle and Serene were on their feet in combat stances as... a blurry form appeared out of nowhere. The humanoid form was transparent, but easy to see. It was outlined by Nikis' dark energy. "Figured." Nikis said sourly. "You morons just cannot stop meddling, can you?"

"This is... not what you think... Tenno Nikis..." The voice was familiar to Janet. The form solidified into a young human woman in archaic looking clothing. "It isn't."

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't send you back to your master in _pieces_." Nikis said with a grunt as he rose, his hands limed with orange fire.

"Janet is my friend." The strange human replied quickly, fear coloring her features. "Or...she will be..."

"I warned you and your master the _last_ time that if I caught you meddling again, I would hurt you." Nikis said quietly. His hands did not move. "You are not the one I want to _flay_. Your master is and that is why he sent _you_."

"I came on my own!" The woman snapped, than gave a scream as the energy around her pulsed. "No! I... No, _please!_" She begged.

"Nikis?" Janet asked softly. "Who is this?"

"She calls herself Mira." Nikis said sternly. "She is not human, no matter what form she may wear. Dunno _what_ she is, except a _liar_." Michelle and Serene stayed where they were. Wise of them.

"I never lied to you!" Mira screamed in agony as Nikis raised a hand. "_Nikis,_ _I never lied to you_..."

"Maybe not." Nikis said mildly. "But _if_ not, then you bent the truth so far out of whack you might as _well_ have been lying to me." He shook his head. "Not lying while _not_ telling the truth takes practice, wouldn't you say, Janet?"

"Yeah it does." Janet said softly. "Why did you say I 'helped' you?" Her tone was cold as she sat up straight. "I don't know you."

"Not yet." Mira said weakly, curling up as Nikis hurt her again. "Nikis, please!" She groaned in agony.

"Come off it, Rasputin!" Nikis snapped. "Show yourself and I will stop hurting her!"

"He isn't _here_, Nikis!" Mira gasped as she collapsed to her hands and knees. "He... isn't here. He doesn't _know_ I came. He will be...annoyed with me. But... I had to help her!"

"Why?" Nikis demanded.

"Because she is _waking_, Nikis." Mira said weakly. Nikis went still and she gasped in relief as the power clenched around her faded. "I _didn't_ send her. She went on her _own_. I guided her, after. Then she... took off. Went her own way. I lost her. I didn't know where she _went_. Just that she started screaming and when she came back..." She bowed her head and laid it on the floor. "Nikis... I don't want to die. If you kill _everything_ in the system, I _will_. Self interest on top of wanting to help her? Good enough?"

"Get lost. And tell your boss I am going to find him." Nikis clenched a fist and Mira shrieked. Then she vanished.

"Nikis..." Janet said weakly. "What is going on?" Nikis looked at Serene and Michelle and then nodded to Janet.

"You deserve an explanation, Janet." He sighed deeply. "And it is going to be a bit long winded."

"I can manage." Janet said, her voice tiny. "What is happening to me? What am I turning into?" She begged.

"You are not changing, Janet." Nikis said quietly. "You are human and you will remain such." He slumped a bit. "I think."

"You...? _Think_...?" Janet swallowed hard. Serene sat on the bed beside her, offering comfort that Janet gladly accepted. "You don't _know?_" She pleaded as Serene held her gently.

"No, I don't." Nikis said with a sigh. "I am neither omniscient nor omnipotent. I am a Tenno, not a god, Janet. I know a lot, but mostly... I know what I _don't_ know. Which is a lot." His tone was slightly amused, but Janet was having none of it.

"Then what the _hell_ is going on?" Janet demanded, ire rising. "Why do I keep having these... episodes?"

"They are not episodes, Janet." Nikis said mildly, not at all put out by her rise in temper. "They are visions." Janet went still and Nikis nodded. "Since the dawn of human history, people have claimed to have visions. Most of those were charlatans trying to fool people. But not all." Janet's eyes went huge at that.

"Visions...?" Janet's voice was -if anything- tinier. "I..."

"You saw the past. Serene losing Sierra." Nikis nodded to Serene whose face was set. "Accurate?"

"Yes." Serene said quietly. "As far as I could tell, totally accurate."

"I see. Then... You saw the present." Nikis continued. "The reason the those Infested know me by name? I have dealt with 'em on occasion. I don't trust blindly, but they have proven to be trustworthy allies." Janet was shaking her head, stunned and the Nekros continued. "They contacted me as soon as you left. They were very worried about you. You were...stressed."

"Can you blame me?" Janet asked softly.

"Not at all." Nikis actually sounded kind. Another first in Janet's experience. "But that means that the other present time vision you had is also likely accurate. Your husband and kids."

"How do you know...?" Janet started and then shut her mouth with a click. She shook her head. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

"Kalina is _really_ worried about you, Janet." Nikis said sadly. "She was always a good person. Dying ain't changed who and what she is."

"So... the other one..." Janet slumped a bit. "I..."

"Janet." Nikis' tone turned sharp. "Listen to me. The future is not set. You saw a _possible_ future. A very _bad_ one. And we are warned now. That future will _not_ happen, Janet."

"You don't _know_ that!" Janet cried as she tried to burrow into Serene's arms. Serene just held her. The female Tenno was just as stunned by all of this as Janet was. Michelle... looked worried.

"Janet." Nikis' voice was stern now. "Look at me." Janet looked at him and he nodded. "It. Will. Not. Happen."

"How can you be so sure?" Janet asked, confused. You just said... it is not set..."

"Because I am going to say this..." Nikis said quietly. "I swear to you, Janet. I will not do what you saw. I will _not_ avenge you by killing all life in this solar system." Janet stared as his hand dipped to his back and came up with an oddly shaped dagger. He slashed once over his palm and nodded to her. "By Blood and by Steel, I swear it to you, Janet. I will not do what you saw." Janet went still as both Serene and Michelle gasped as one.

"What does that mean?" Janet asked, calming a little.

"It means he will never break his word to you." Serene said softly, awed. "Nikis..."

"I can't guarantee I won't go off the deep end some _other_ way." Nikis said sourly as he sheathed the dagger. "But I will not avenge you that way, Janet. Okay?"

"Okay." Janet calmed a bit. She felt the assurance that Nikis radiated now. Somehow she knew he would die before he broke that oath. "Thank you, Nikis."

"You have gone through hell, Janet." Nikis said softly. "And it is only going to get worse."

"What do you mean?" Janet demanded, fear starting to rise again.

"You are an Oracle."


	7. Chapter 7

**Oracle**

"Nikis..." Serene's voice held warning now and Nikis nodded slowly as Janet stared at him. Michelle hadn't moved at all, Janet noticed.

"That doesn't make sense." Janet sounded dazed. Who could blame her? "An oracle was a priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought from the gods in classical antiquity. I am not a medium... I... I am not..."

"No, you are not." Nikis agreed calmly. "The visions are not coming from some bearded half clothed guy sitting on a throne atop a mountain somewhere." Janet couldn't help herself. She had to giggle at that image which was probably Nikis' intent. "They are also not coming from the ether or whatever else fanatics have come up with to explain their delusions." Janet stared at him and Nikis shrugged. "I am not debating the _existence_ of deities. We haven't got a couple of _years_ to do that. All I am saying is that you are not _channeling_ one. The term 'Oracle' was used during the Orokin Empire for people who experienced things like you have."

"Oh, good. I don't need a deity in my head." Janet said with a sigh. "So... what is happening?" She asked carefully.

"The visions are coming from _you_, Janet." Nikis said quietly. "It was called a lot of things. Precognition, postcognition, clairaudience, clairvoyance, ESP... A lot of things..."

"Are you saying I am _psychic_?" Janet demanded. "I mean... I have felt minds touch my own. The Reverend Mother, the Lotus... But I have never..." She paused. "The Lotus... Wait! Why haven't I heard from her?" Michelle jerked and Nikis nodded for her to speak.

"Because as soon as she realized what was happening, she stepped back, Janet." Michelle said quietly. "This has happened before. If not recently." Nikis gave the Princess a shallow nod. "The Lotus deals in probabilities. This kind of thing...defies most of those. It is outside her experience and control. She is worried. As are we all. The last time this happened, the young man in question took his own life."

"He was _hounded_." Nikis snarled. "Stupid industrialists. Always looking for an edge. Always the bottom line, no matter the cost to a young man's _soul_." Janet gasped and Nikis relaxed. "Yeah, Janet. You can imagine what the _Corpus_ would do with such power. What the _Reverend Mother_ would do."

"The Reverend Mother?" Janet asked nobody. "She would be scared shitless of this." But then she grimaced. "The Board though... Oh dear..." She shook her head. "The Reverend Mother would use it. She wouldn't have a choice." She went still as she stared at Michelle. "That is why you and your mother have been so nice to me..." She tried to keep hurt from her tone and mostly succeeded.

"I don't blame you for thinking that, Janet. But no." Michelle said calmly. "Ask Nikis."

She nodded to the Nekros. Janet looked at him and Nikis sighed.

"Some of us remember." Nikis said softly. "That young man, his name was Franklin. His family were drawn into a cult. The cult tried to use his ability to further their lunacy. He didn't know what was happening. Until one of the nutballs came at him with a hypo filled with the Technocyte Virus, he didn't have a clue his life was in danger." Janet gasped, and Nikis snorted without humor. "They thought they could make him 'ascend' or some such. The Tenno did _not_ take kindly to thefts of samples of the Technocyte Virus. Just before the fanatics could inject him, Tenno arrived. They did what Tenno _do_."

"They killed all but the boy." Janet's soft words were not a question. "And the boy?"

"They took him in for a time." Nikis said sadly. "But he wasn't Tenno. He didn't want to _be_ Tenno. No one was going to force him. His visions were documented. We gave him the stability he needed while he adjusted to his visions. As we will you. If you wish."

"You were there." Again, Janet's words were not a question.

"I was." Nikis agreed. "I wasn't part of the team that went in and took out the fanatics, but I was there when they brought Franklin back to the Citadel for medical checks. The boy was..." Nikis shook his head. "He was calm. He knew we wouldn't hurt him. That we would help as we could. But then... He wanted to leave. Find his own way. What _right_ did we have to keep him, even as powerful as his visions were? If we had...maybe he wouldn't have killed himself."

"Or he might have gone _crazy_ in captivity." Michelle said sternly. Nikis looked at her and Michelle shook her head. "Benevolent captivity is _still_ captivity, Nikis."

"I know." Nikis agreed. "Which is why we let him go. Then he ran into Rasputin. If I _ever_ find that dog..."

"You said that name before." Janet said before Nikis could start to rant. "Who is he?"

"Rasputin wasn't his name originally." Nikis said after a moment. "He took the name from a notorious Russian. An advisor to the Tsars, the rulers of Russia before the Revolution of 1917. He was an Orokin scientist dedicated to proving that psychic powers existed and determining _how_ they worked. His methods were... brutal." Janet stared. Nikis sounded odd. Not angry. Something far, far beyond that. "The boy was never the same after Rasputin got his claws into him... I tried to help. And the boy ignored me." Nikis shook himself. "That is neither here nor there. You are going to have more visions, Janet."

"Is there any way to stop them?" Janet asked fearfully. Serene gave her a squeeze and Janet relaxed a little.

"Not without lobotomizing you." Nikis said before anyone else could. "And that really wouldn't work either, from what little I remember. You just wouldn't _remember_ why you were so scared. You wouldn't be able to vocalize your fears. You would go mad."

"How many _times_ have you seen this happen, Nikis?" Janet asked, horrified.

"Four. Three destroyed by Rasputin's 'research' and the other took his own life." Nikis said softly. An indrawn breath circled the room. The Nekros let out a slow, deep breath."We can help, Janet. If you want us to. If you let us. Being an Oracle is no fun at _all_. But we _can_ help." His hand came up, empty and he held it out to her. "We will not ask you for your aid. Just being what you are will be hard enough for you without anyone demanding you lead them as a Messiah or something. We can help." He repeated. "Please let us."

"I am scared." Janet said softly, staring at Nikis' outstretched hand.

"No one blames you." Nikis replied calmly. "No one at all. I can't say it will be okay, because I am not an Oracle. But what we can do, we _will_." This also was an oath.

"Michelle?" Janet asked, not taking her eyes from Nikis' hand. "I... I don't know... You have been kind. You, Serene, your mother..."

"The frightening thing, Janet..." Michelle said heavily. "Is that we _could_ use you. And if we could? We likely _would_. Not for frivolous things..." She said as Janet wilted a bit. "But that makes it all the more dangerous. _Any_ power is tempting, Janet. Any power has the potential for misuse. We would use you and both I _and_ my mother think it would be wrong. We would wind up relying on you and we cannot do that."

"Thank you for your honesty." Janet said softly into the silence that fell. "Serene?" She begged.

"Tenno follow the Lotus, Janet." Serene said slowly. "None of us would follow a human. No matter how skilled or charismatic. Sorry." She said with a sad look.

"I am not." Janet said with a sigh. "I would mess things up. I know I would. It was bad enough just being an operative. I am no leader. No guide."

"That is because you are smart, Janet." Nikis said, still not moving. "Some humans need the reassurance of a herd. Or of something greater than themselves to make them feel safe." Janet nodded soberly. "Some more than others." Nikis said dryly and Janet chuckled sourly.

"Don't need to tell me that." Janet sat up, nodded to Serene and Michelle and slid her legs off the bed. "So... what do we do?" She asked Nikis as she reached for his hand.

"We travel to somewhere where you can relax for a bit. Rest. You need it." Nikis said as Janet took his hand in a trembling grip. "You won't be able to track us, Michelle. Don't try. I _will_ protect her." He warned. Janet shivered from the malevolence in the ancient Tenno's words..

"Nikis..." Serene begged as she let go of Janet's other hand. "Please be gentle."

"Serene, you know what I am." Nikis said softly. "But I have never raised my hand to a human who did not attack me first or violate the Code. I ain't gonna start with Janet. Come on." He started for the door and Janet followed. The door hissed open and both guards stiffened on seeing the Nekros with Janet, but froze in place as Nikis' eye swept over them.

"She is going with Nikis." Michelle said quietly from behind them. "Inform the others. No one is to hinder them. My authority."

"As you will, Princess." The Mag Prime said with a nod. Both Prime warframes saluted Nikis who ignored them.

Janet was stumbling after just a little ways. She hadn't really rested after her latest vision and her exhaustion was catching up with her. Nikis wasn't moving nearly as fast as he could, but she was having difficulty keeping up. She kept on. One foot in front of the other. She would not quit.

"How proud are you?" Nikis asked her quietly as he slowed just a little.

"Too tired to be proud right now." Janet said softly. She gave a squeak as he swept her off her feet and cradled her in his arms. "Nikis..." She groaned. "People will talk."

"Let them. You are exhausted." Nikis said quietly. "I am not."

Janet shook her head but did not try to argue further. She knew it wouldn't work. She was... so tired. Her eyes were drooping as Nikis strode through the corridors of the Orokin facility as if he owned the place. Maybe he _did_ for all she knew. Then he stopped. She forced her eyes open and stared as a tech in a gold uniform hurriedly backed quickly away from a console as Nikis stepped up to it. The human raised empty hands. This was... a portal room. She had used the ancient Orokin portal networks occasionally on jobs for the Lotus. Rarely. And she had _not_ enjoyed the experience.

"You try to trace this and I will _not_ be happy." Nikis said with a growl to the tech who looked as if he wanted to be _anywhere_ but where he was. "And if anyone tries to _follow_ me, I will find out about it and be back to talk to you. Clear?" The tech gulped, nodded and turned to face the wall. "Smart kid." Nikis said with a grunt as he shifted Janet so he was holding her with one hand. He did something to the controls that she couldn't see.

"Where are we going, Nikis?" Janet asked. She couldn't quite keep her words from slurring.

"Somewhere safe." Nikis said with a sigh. "A place you can rest for a while. After you have recovered, we can talk about your future. But for now, you need rest."

"I don't like these portals." Janet tried to keep from whining, but it was hard. Almost as hard as keeping her eyes open.

"I don't know anyone who does." Nikis said with a snort as he carried Janet onto the platform. "Hang on to your lunch, girl. We are going for a ride." The immobilization field clicked on and Janet felt the familiar energy start to build. But... It felt... different. She felt...

Janet screamed as the golden energy enveloped her. It was burning her. Searing her nerves! Then it faded, but...she wasn't alone! A sense of accomplishment came from... somewhere. It wasn't hers! The feeling wasn't hers!

_Leave her alone, Rasputin!_ Nikis' voice was not audible, but it cut through Janet's mind like a sword. _I __**will**__ find you this time you sorry son of a bitch! _

_You cannot find me. _The voice was oily and despite her training, despite her skill and courage, Janet was shaken to her core by the sheer...something it projected. It wasn't evil. She knew that feeling, that sound. It wasn't apathy. No... It was cold disinterest in Nikis' threats. No... The voice was looking at _her_. _So... My dear. You have woken at last. You will come to me and we will do marvelous things together._

_Never. _Janet snapped with all the strength at her disposal. Which wasn't much. _I will never serve you! _

_**Serve**__ me? _Either this being was the best actor Janet had ever encountered or he was honestly surprised by her statement. _Oh my dear... Don't let that fool Tenno poison your mind. No. I do not ask for your service. I ask for your help._

_Janet! Don't listen to him! _Nikis snapped. _He lies! It is what he does!_

Janet felt the portal activate. Somehow, the other was following them through the transfer. _Nikis... he is tracking us!_

_Let him!_ Nikis actually snarled. _If he wants to __**die**__, he can come right after us. I would love to put some rounds through him._

_Always so limited, Nikis... _The other sounded sad now. _I have nothing more to say to you. I simply wanted to say hello to Janet. We will meet again, my dear._

_I... won't help you... _Janet forced her mind into stillness as she had been taught by Tenno Intelligence and Rasputin actually gasped.

_Don't do anything rash, Janet. We need you._ The other pleaded. _The Solar System needs you. We can end this conflict. Bring peace back to the system. Rebuild it better than it was._

_GET OUT OF MY HEAD! _Janet screamed and then she was falling. Her head hurt. Nikis caught her as she lost control of her stomach and spewed nastiness onto the floor at his feet. "Nikis..." Janet begged.

"It's okay, Janet." Nikis said quickly. "Well done. Not many I know of can toss that scum out like you did. But it hurt you. Elenia!" He cried out as a female voice sounded.

"We have it all set up!" A warm hand touched Janet's brow and then was snatched away. "Nikis, she is feverish! What happened?"

"Rasputin." Nikis made the name an epithet. "He tried to convert her while we transited. Damn it! I need to find and kill that dog."

"How many times have you killed him, Nikis?" The one called Elenia asked sourly. "Get her in. We can take it from there." The hand was back on Janet's forehead as she was laid...in something that yielded under her. "Janet? Janet, can you hear me?"

"Hurts..." Janet managed to gasp out past her pain. "He... I... It..."

"Easy." The soft voice was crooning at her now. "Just relax. We have you. Nothing will happen to you now, dear. Just relax. Let go..." And indeed... Janet felt something envelop her. Something warm and accepting. She was crying softly as the warmth soothed her pain and lulled her to sleep gently.

* * *

><p>"Damn him." Nikis said softly as Janet fell asleep. It was probably a good thing she wasn't awake to see the pod she was in slowly form over top of her and the blue viscous healing fluid start to fill it. The Ancient Healer who served this odd group as it's medical professional gave a head bob and left the room. The Mag who was a Caretaker of the Unclean looked at him and Nikis sighed. "I am sorry, Elenia. I will... keep it down."<p>

"I wish we could help you, Nikis." Elenia said sadly.

"You have." The Nekros sounded grateful. "But there are limits to everything. We had to limit my access to the mass mind. I will not make the mass mind go nuts just to keep my own darkness at bay for a while. You, Jasmina and the others helped a lot." He shrugged. "I am just... too far gone."

"Not yet." Elena reached out and hugged the Nekros warframe tight. "We will find a way to help you, Nikis."

"Don't do that." Nikis protested, but did not struggle. He liked Elenia. "People will think I went _soft_."

_I highly doubt that._ A silent male voice sounded in Nikis' head. From Elenia's chuckle, she heard him to. _Besides, soft for __**you**__ and soft for anything less dense than neutronium are two __**completely**__ different things._

"Be glad you don't have a physical body anymore, Dust." Nikis said sourly as he patted Elenia's head awkwardly. "I would hurt you." A rude noise answered him and the mental trace that was all that was left of his son vanished. "You guys... I swear..." He shook himself and Elenia let go of him. "Jasmina around?"

"I was finalizing things." The Ember Prime who entered the room looked odd. But then again, she was odd. "She can't stay here too long, Nikis. If she does, she will be subsumed despite our care."

"I know." Nikis said sadly. "Rasputin hurt her." At that name, Jasmina hissed and Nikis nodded. "I guess it's time to kill him again."

"Nikis, it doesn't work." Elenia said softly. 'How many times have you killed him? He keeps coming back."

"And every time he _does_, I will kill him again until I find his core processes and wipe them. Erase his evil." Nikis said sourly. "Pity he isn't in the main databanks. Most of the others would hold him down for me to erase."

"Nikis..." Jasmina sounded worried now and Nikis sighed.

"I won't do what Janet saw." Nikis promised. "But it is high time that scum got what was coming to him."

"Taking energy form is not _supposed_ to be a way to crimes..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Visions of Kindness**

Janet was floating on a sea of bliss. Everything was clam and serene. She could see... herself... somehow. She was inside a pod of some kind. It looked... like flesh. It pulsed as if alive. Said pod was clear, filled with an odd blue liquid and an organic looking tube ran into her mouth. But... she wasn't afraid. She _should_ be, she knew that. But she _wasn't_. A Mag warframe sat beside the pod and several familiar forms moved around. Infested. It was much like her vision from before, but she wasn't afraid. Why not?

"Your fear was hurting you. We are keeping it at bay." The voice was everywhere and nowhere. "We want to help you." It was odd, that voice. It wasn't human. As before, a mix of human tones and animal tones. Was this Infested? "Yes." The voice replied. Janet felt a trickle of fear rise, but it vanished. "Ah, child... Easy. Let us... speak."

Suddenly Janet was standing the middle of small room. Rugs covered the floor and paintings covered the walls. A comfortable looking couch sat against one wall and an honest to goodness wood fireplace sat blazing against another. Janet stared around for a moment and then sat. In the middle of the floor. She tried not to flinch as a old, old woman appeared in a rocking chair next to the fire. The woman spoke in a normal human voice.

"The couch would be more comfortable." The woman smiled at Janet's stunned expression. "We will not harm you. You are very strong willed, to escape our sedation. But you have no need to fear us, Janet. We are allowing your body time to rest and recover. Your mind needs time too."

"Why am I not afraid?" Janet asked, more to herself than the other.

"In most organic forms, fear is a chemical reaction, Janet." The other said calmly. "Your brain is awash with such chemicals at the moment. Your body needs time to deal with them. Time you were not given. We are dampening your fear, buffering you from it so you can rest easily." Sadness sounded in the odd form now. "You are strong, child. But as in everything, there are limits. That is why Nikis brought you to us."

"Infested..." Janet felt faint. "I..."

"Yes, we are." The old woman said quietly. "We are a mass of minds, all fused together by the Technocyte Virus. But somehow... we did not stay feral like most of our kind. We were saved from that fate by some very brave and noble beings. Tenno."

"Tenno kind of have to be brave and noble." Janet said weakly. "Don't they?"

"Not necessarily." The old woman replied easily. "Just as any group, you will have good ones and bad ones mixed in. You have met Healer Iriana." Janet nodded slowly. "She is one of the good ones. You have met _Nikis_." From her tone, it was clear what category she put the _gunfighter_ in. Janet swallowed hard and nodded again.

"He... is trying to be good." Janet said softly. "To help me."

"Yes, and it is not easy for him." The representation of the massed minds was sad now. "He was a good Tenno." Janet growled and the old woman looked at her.

"He _is_ a good Tenno." Janet said sharply. "He isn't a _nice_ person, no. But a _good_ one? Yes." She bowed her head. "Sometimes it takes bad people to do good. I know that better than most."

"Oh Janet..." The old woman's voice was heartbroken now. "His feelings for you are all that are holding him back from madness now. You saw what he was capable of. What we all fear."

"Someone has to be able to help him." Janet felt her eyes start to burn. Wherever she was, she could still feel sadness, if not fear. "He..."

Wait a sec! How had she gotten on the couch? Why was the odd woman sitting beside her, holding her as she sobbed? All she could do was cry.

"Oh Janet." The old woman said softly as she held Janet through the woman's wracking sobs. "So strong. So hurt and scared. We _will_ help you." Something wafted across Janet and she felt comforted by whatever it was. "We do not know if we can stop your visions, but we will try. If nothing else, we can comfort you like this." After a moment, Janet had calmed enough to speak.

"I can't stay here, can I?" Janet asked, her tone listless.

"No." The old woman's voice was mild, but held command. "If you do, you will be subsumed into our mass. We would welcome you, but it wouldn't be right. You did not choose this. You have your own life to lead dear, sweet Janet..." Janet surprised herself by hugging the old woman who smiled sadly as she hugged Janet back. "You will need to learn to control your visions. We can help with that, a bit."

"You can?" Janet hated the begging tone that crept into her voice but the old woman just nodded. "What do I do?"

"With any skill, be it physical or mental, the only way to get better at it is to practice." The old woman said quietly. "You needed to see what was happening to you. You have. You are in a pod, being healed at the moment. We do not know what caused the mental trauma you suffered. But we are healing it."

"I don't understand." Janet said weakly.

"You are having a vision right now, Janet." The massed mind said quietly. Janet stared at the old woman and then at the room around her. "Your body is asleep, but your mind needed to know what was happening. Now you do. Do you need to know anything else?"

"Not that I know of." Janet said after a moment of thinking. "What do I do?"

"We can teach you how to stop the vision, Janet." The other replied. "It won't be easy. The thing is, when you have your visions, you step out of your body. This can be a blessing or a curse."

"How do you know this?" Janet asked, worried.

"We know everything that our individual minds ever knew or learned, Janet." The massed minds replied easily. "While none of us ever had your particular ability, we have the memories of a telepath in our midst. She was... curious about other types of psi abilities. She was... exceptional."

"Is she...still there?" Janet asked.

"No." The massed mind said sadly. "We do not remember exactly what happened. It... hurt. She was hurt. She died, but she helped us. We remember her. We remember everything she knew. Her life, her loves, her fears. But _she_ is gone. She was kind and gentle. She taught us so much."

"Oh. I am sorry." Janet said into the silence that fell.

"It hurts to remember." The massed mind said quietly. "But it is good thing. We learned love from her and that is a _very_ good thing." She stroked Janet's head gently. "Often it hurts. But without love, what are we?"

"Just animals." Janet said as she hugged the old woman tight. "Basic instincts and basic motivations. We need to be better than that. What do I do?"

"If you wish... We will ease you, Janet." The massed mind was still gentle. "We will ease you into sleep. Your mind will follow ours, pass through her memories. You will absorb some of them. Not all. That is not possible, but her knowledge of controlling her abilities should help you."

"What was her name?" Janet asked as lethargy started to pull her down. "The telepath?"

"Her name was Song."

* * *

><p>Janet knew, as soon as she woke, that she was free of the pod. She was lying on a bed, her limbs unfettered. Her face was damp. She moved a hand up to it and found tears drying across her face.<p>

"Here." A familiar voice sounded and a damp cloth was put in her hand. Janet smiled her thanks as she scrubbed her face with the cloth. "I am Elenia. We were not really introduced."

"A... Caretaker?" Janet asked, concerned. Then she nodded a little. "I remember... they showed me a lot. It... doesn't all make sense. But I did get how to control some of my mental fumbles." She laid the cloth down at her side, keeping her eyes shut. She was, frankly, worried about what she would see if she opened them. "How to come back to my body when I leave it behind."

"Well, that is a good thing." A hand found hers and gave a squeeze.

"Song was your friend." Janet said softly. Elena gave a small noise of grief and Janet swallowed. "I am sorry."

"Not your fault." Elenia replied, calming. "You were hammered. Even some Tenno would have had difficulty with what happened to you. And then what you saw _Nikis_ do..." The Caretaker actually gulped and Janet could relate. "He is meditating. As soon as he is done,..." She trailed off as Janet nodded a little.

"We leave." Janet said with a sigh. "I feel...detached. Not quite all here."

"We have calmed you." Elenia replied softly. "You needed it very badly. We didn't expect you to wake up in the middle of the healing though." Her tone turned halfway between humorous and worried. "Silly human. You should know better."

"Yeah, I should." Janet agreed. "I may not get the chance to say this once Nikis wakes up, so I will now. Thank you." The hand found hers again. She squeezed it and the other squeezed back. "I feel... better, if not good, then better."

"I wish we could do more." Elenia said quietly. "I think I would like you. But you are human. You do not have the protections we Tenno do. If you stay too long, you will be drawn into the mass mind. They wouldn't _hurt_ you, but... you wouldn't ever be able to get free and eventually, you would forget who and _what_ you are."

"It felt... marvelous." Janet said wistfully. "But that is the danger, is it not?"

"It is." Elenia agreed. "Until it is too late, you never realize how bad it is. How irreversible. We will not let it happen to you."

"I..." Janet slumped a bit and then spoke evenly. "This is going to sound stupid."

"It might." Elenia replied easily. "But you never know. So... spit it out."

"Can _anyone_ help Nikis?" Janet blurted out. "I mean,... I don't really like him. He _terrifies_ me. But there has to be something. Some way, somewhere. He is needed."

"Janet." Elenia said sadly. "He is tired. Even Tenno can get old. And Nikis... is older than just about anyone realizes."

"I got that." Janet said softly. "When he was talking about the being there for the last Oracle..." Elenia made a noise of worry and Janet hastened to reassure her. "I am not going to let that Rasputin scum win. I will help Nikis stop him. But from what I gather, it won't be easy."

"It won't." Elenia said dryly. "Is there a reason you are not opening your eyes?"

"Scared of what I am going to see." Janet said with a frown.

"Currently, you and I are the only ones in the room." Elenia said mildly. "And you _will_ want a shower."

Janet cracked her eyes, peering this way and that, but the only other being in the room was a young looking Tenno in robes sitting by the bed Janet lay on. The bed...was odd. It had an archaic looking canopy over it and... Were those _chains_ attached to one riser? Janet decided quickly not to ask. She looked down at herself and she was wearing a fuzzy robe of some kind. It was warm but... There was a gummy residue on her skin. It looked... blue. She scraped it with a fingernail, and it came off easily, but...

"The robe is mine." Elenia said with a nod. "Jasmina's wouldn't have fit you. The beanpole is way too tall." She said as Janet sat up, staring at the robe. "Shower is in there." She nodded to a door nearby. "I will wait."

"Why are you being so nice?" Janet didn't want to be suspicious, not after the way the massed mind had eased her, but it came naturally.

"Because Nikis cares for you and _we_ care for _him_." Elenia said softly. Janet was amazed to see a tear fall down the Tenno's face. "He is falling apart. We can see it. But we cannot help him. Maybe _you_ can."

"What could _I_ do that you _can't_?" Janet asked, stunned. "I mean... the feelings I got... The massed mind was powerful. Incredibly powerful." The massed mind hadn't _had_ to be gentle. It had _chosen_ to be.

"I don't know." Elenia said sadly. "We have tried everything we could think of. Maybe... a new viewpoint will help. Maybe you will find a way we have missed. Everyone who knows him knows there is a problem, but only a few know how _bad_ it actually is. Those few... are _scared_."

"Michelle said that if he dies..." Janet swallowed hard.

"Yeah." Elenia agreed. "If he were to be brought into the massed mind... he would drive it insane." Janet gasped and Elenia nodded. "And he knows it. If he merges with the Orokin database... probably the same."

"Then we can't let him die." Janet said sternly.

"Good luck." Elenia said with a snort. "He _defines_ single minded." She shook her head. "For what it is worth, I hope you find a way. For now, you need a shower before the blue sets into your skin." Janet jerked and Elenia nodded. "Go on. I'll stay here. Oh..." She said quickly as Janet swung her legs off the bed. "One thing... ignore the... _stuff_ in there."

"_Stuff_?" Janet was stunned as Elenia actually _blushed_. Her eyes went huge. "Um..."

"Jasmina and I live here alone." Elenia said in a small voice. "We don't get... many visitors. Especially female ones." Janet was staring at her and Elenia shook her head. "I mean... It's not bad. I cleaned... but..."

"Your business." Janet said firmly. "Not mine." She strode to the door and opened it. What met her eyes... She shook her head savagely and strode to the shower. She hung the robe on a hook beside another that was much longer. "I... don't want to know." She said weakly as she started the water. "I _so_ do _not_ want to know."

Was it her imagination that Elenia chuckled? It... didn't quite sound like Elenia. But then she focused on getting the blue off her skin. And keeping her eyes away from the...other stuff.

* * *

><p>"How you doing?" Nikis sounded little better. Janet couldn't see his expression, but Elenia's <em>non<em>-expression said much.

Janet nodded from where she sat. She was still in the room where she had woken. This was obviously Elenia's bedchamber. The shower had helped and Elenia had been good company, but it hadn't been long at all after the shower that the door had opened and the pitch black Nekros had come in.

"Better." Janet said with a nod. "The mass mind showed me how to stop when I am in a vision." Nikis went still and Janet hurried to explain. "I woke up. I wasn't supposed to, but I did. They were... kind." It still bemused here than _Infested_ could be kind, but she had to admit, she had enjoyed it. "Sad but kind."

"Good people." Nikis said with a grunt. "Ready to go?"

"Portal again?" Janet tried to keep a whining note from her voice and mostly managed. Nikis nodded and she groaned. "Well, at least I haven't eaten anything this time." Elenia chuckled and Nikis shook his head. "Will Rasputin try again?"

"Oh yeah." Nikis said sourly. "He doesn't take rejection well. But the good news is this trip is quicker." Janet stared at him and then at Elenia as the female Tenno coughed.

"Nikis... doesn't trust anyone in Avalon, Janet." Elenia said with a sigh. "Can't really blame him after everything that happened. But he _does_ trust the people where you are going."

"And where is that?" Janet asked carefully. "I didn't think you trusted anyone, Nikis."

"The Citadel." Nikis said quietly. Janet froze.

"Nikis..." Janet said slowly and carefully. "I am human. Humans are not allowed there."

"You are with me and you need some help." Nikis said reasonably. "Help they can provide. It wasn't always closed to humans. There was a time that students came from all over the system to study. Not even to become Tenno, but it had the best archives and some of the best teaches in the system. Times changed, but..." He shrugged. "They won't turn you away, Janet. I asked. They said to come."

"Nikis..." Janet sighed and relented. Arguing wouldn't do anything but tick the old Tenno off. She rose to her feet and nodded to Elenia. "Thank you for your care."

"Taking care of people is what we do. Infested or human, we take care of them. It is what Caretakers do." Elenia said with a smirk that faded. "Janet... I wish you well. Your road will be long and hard, but you are up to the journey."

"I hope so." Janet said as she held out a hand to Nikis who took it.

"Word of advice, Janet." Nikis said quietly. "Keep your eyes on me. Don't look around."

"I..." Janet paused and shook her head. "I don't know if I can keep my eyes on you. I do know I cannot keep them closed." Elenia reached into a drawer and pulled out a... a blindfold! A leopard print blindfold! Oh my god...

"We have several." Elenia said with a smile at Janet's expression. She stepped up and slid it around Janet's head slowly. It clung to the human's skin, but was loose. It would be easy to get off. "You can keep that one."

"Thank you, but no." Janet said sternly as Nikis chuckled. "I don't go that way." She pulled the blindfold down with one hand and clenched her other on Nikis' hand. "Let's go."

"She and Jasmina live alone." Nikis said as they walked. "Don't judge them." He warned. Sounds came from around them. Sounds that had Janet scrunching her eyes shut. Nothing else touched her but... the walk seemed endless. "Not far now."

"It is their life." Janet said weakly. "They can do as they wish. I am hardly one to pass judgment on someone _else's_ oddities." Nikis snorted in agreement and gave her hand a twitch. She stopped as he did. "Now?"

"Now." Nikis agreed as the immobilization field grabbed her... but...

Janet was screaming as her mind was torn from her body.


	9. Chapter 9

**Unknown ****Paradigms**

Janet was trying to do as she had learned, trying to stop whatever had happened. It wasn't working! A familiar cold voice sounded in her head.

_All I want to do is talk, Janet._ Rasputin sounded upset. _You can and will hurt yourself again if you fight. Stop. Please._ Was he... begging her?

_Go away!_ Janet snapped. _Won't help you!_ The other sighed.

_I can see how this is going turn out. But at least let me try?_ The male voice said dryly. _I don't want to hurt you, Janet. I need you. And you ... need me._

_He will kill you! _Janet declared. _No matter __**what**__ you do to me, Nikis will kill you!_

_Of course he will. _Rasputin chided. _It is what he __**does**__, filthy brute that he is. He kills people. He has killed me thirty seven times now. Each time, bits of myself reform and I come back. _Janet went still in whatever was holding her and Rasputin laughed sourly. _Still hurts every time, mind you. Not something to look forward to, but I did plan for this._

_I don't believe you. _Janet snapped. _You lie. I trust Nikis. I do not trust you._

_You shouldn't trust him. _The other said quietly _And he would be the first to say so._ _He always was a bit... loose around the edges. _His voice turned pleading. _Janet, we need you._

_I won't help you, monster. _Janet snapped in her mind. _I will never help you._

_Oh yes, you will. _Rasputin's voice was...sad now. _I had hoped to convince you the easy way, but Mira's stubborn rebellion and that nasty Tenno's silliness have warped you too far. All that is left now is drastic measures._

_Whatever you do to me, he will stop you! _Janet declared, only to scream again as she was falling.

Janet landed... on... a mattress? No, this wasn't a mattress. Something was curled up on either side of her. Whatever was underneath her was soft, but unyielding. She tried to move and couldn't. When she stared down at herself, she was encased in something that looked flimsy, but wasn't. It looked like gold foil, but try as she might, she could not move a muscle. She was lying in some kind of depression, just her size and shape.

"Don't struggle." A familiar voice sounded and a human form appeared nearby. But... he was _transparent_. Composed of golden energy! The hologram appeared to be wearing archaic clothing, but it was hard to tell. "All you will do is hurt yourself."

"F*** you, Rasputin!" Janet screamed. She tried to move anything, but nothing would. A transparent hand came down and her head was covered by something that crinkled.

"Such beautiful hair. A pity, but it will grown back." Janet tried not to gasp whatever was on her head turned cold. Then it warmed a little. "It didn't need to be this way, Janet." Rasputin said sadly as a menacing looking device with several appendages lowered from somewhere to sit just over her head. The ends of the appendages started to glow golden. "Now lie still, dear. This won't hurt."

"I won't help you." Janet snapped. "And you cannot make me!"

"You are wrong. In a moment, you will see just how wrong you are. We will welcome you." Rasputin said with a small secretive smile. A light came on under the machine, a golden one. Janet's world dissolved into golden energy. She was... losing herself in that golden glow. She watched as golden beams came arcing down to come together just over her eyes. She was... she couldn't stop this.

"_**Nikis**_!" Janet screamed as she...

**BANG!**

The machine was suddenly catapulted away from her, it's glow dying. Rasputin spun in place, but a roar of gunfire drove him back. A familiar pitch black Nekros strode into Janet's view, a smoking pistol in each hand. For a moment, Janet felt relief, but then Rasputin laughed. A dark and evil laugh that skittered around the space as if on claws.

"You can't stop me with _those_, Nikis." The golden form said with glee. "And..." He broke off as Nikis holstered his pistols and drew a long sword made of some metal that gleamed oddly dark in the harsh light of the room. Rasputin flinched. "No... Nikis, don't..."

The Nekros did not speak. He charged. The energy form apparently tried to fade out, but Nikis stabbed the sword through where the form was fading and a shrill scream sounded. The energy form solidified around the sword, his hands clutching impotently at the dark metal. _Now_, the Caretaker of the Dead spoke and it was as if all the fires of hell spoke with him.

"_Every_ time you reincorporate, I _will_ find you." The Nekros' voice was a cold, dead thing and despite herself, Janet shivered. "Sooner or later, I _will_ find your core processes. There are only a few more places you could have hidden them. When I _do_ find them... I am giving you to _Nyx_. You owe _her_ even more than you owe _me_, Rasputin. But I _will_ get some of my own back too. _Die_, you Prick!" He twisted the sword and Rasputin gave a long drawn out scream of agony and vanished.

"Nikis..." Janet begged when the Nekros did not move. "Did he... get away...?" She pleaded.

"No." The word was cold and hard and despite herself Janet shivered again as the Nekros' gaze swept over her. He recoiled. "Aw... crap..." Why was the sword in Nikis' hand _glowing?_ And _dark_? Dark shouldn't have been a color to glow. Should it? Suddenly, the pair were not alone.

"Nikis!" An unfamiliar Trinity stood beside the Nekros. Another Prime. "Easy Nikis... You found her. In time. She is okay."

"Trinity..." The pain and fear in the Nekros' voice was horrifying. "Stay back... Help her..."

"Nikis!" Janet begged as other forms appeared around her, ripping the covering off her. A Mag Prime pulled whatever was on her head off and scrubbed her hands as if soiled. Gentle hands helped her sit up, but she shrugged them off, as she rose to stagger towards where Nikis stood as if frozen. "Nikis... Nikis, please... look at me..."

"J... Janet... I..." Nikis started to say and then he froze in place as Janet threw her arms around him, crying. "Janet? Oh Janet..."

"Whatever you just did..." Janet said slowly, hugging Nikis tight. "You just saved my life and probably my soul. I may never love you. But I don't _care_." Something twinged in her mind, A memory, but not hers. A memory from the female telepath that the Infested had shown her. Song. Janet focused on the sword that the Nekros hadn't sheathed yet. None of the other energy forms were coming close, Janet noticed. Stood to reason. That sword had just killed one of their kind. "You killed this... this manifestation of that monster?"

"Yeah." Nikis said softly.

"And it hurt you." Janet's soft words were not a question.

"Any power has a cost, Janet." Nikis said quietly, his tone calming. "I... needed to do it. So I did."

"Oh Nikis..." Janet felt her throat close up. "I don't _care_ what anyone says. You _are_ a good man. A good Tenno. But you have _enough_ burdens." She looked up into his face plate and smiled a bit sadly. "_This_ one, I take for you." She released him and quick as a whip reached out with both hands and grasped the bare blade before he could stop her. Many voices screamed her name as one.

It... didn't hurt.

* * *

><p>"You crazy... stupid...<em>human!<em> _Rachel!_" Nikis thundered as Janet woke to pain. Every muscle in her body was on fire. Every nerve, every tendon, every _everything_... She was writhing, trying to scream out of a mouth that was locked up tight. "Get the _doc_! _Now!_" He nearly screamed.

"Oh my _god_!" An unfamiliar female voice sounded. "What did she _do?_"

Janet was shivering. There was something... in her now. Something alive and aware that wasn't her. It felt...curious? It was... looking at her. Did it... _wink_ at her?

"She touched the blade." Nikis was actually stammering, a first. "She took the cost... I... Why did she _do_ that?" Janet managed to open her mouth past the fire that raged in her jaw.

"You saved me." Utter silence fell as she croaked out words slowly and carefully. "I will find a way to save you."

_**Do you really mean that?**_ The mental voice wasn't loud, but it pervaded every nuance of her being. It wasn't _hers_. It wasn't Nikis, or Rasputin, or anything else she had encountered. It felt...familiar through. Neither male nor female. Not hostile. Curious. _**You are human, the cost will be... great.**_

_He is... needed..._ Janet said as another presence was felt nearby and gentle hands were moving her. They were gentle, but every motion inflamed her agony. _He is a good man. He may not remember what he is, but we do. I will help him if I can._

_**We will talk again.**_The voice vanished from her head moments before everything vanished.

* * *

><p>Waking was a slow process. Janet eased up and into gentle warmth and light. But a soft voice sounded nearby. She opened her eyes and was not surprised that she couldn't open them. Probably covered.<p>

"You shouldn't have let her do that." Nikis sounded in tears.

_**You built me for one purpose.**_The voice from before spoke evenly. _**And one purpose only. How was I supposed to know what she would do?**_

"Pull it out of her." Nikis said severely. "You can."

_**And let **__**you**__** take it, Creator?**_ The voice turned sharp. _**No. She wanted to help. She wants to help.**_

"She doesn't know what she is doing." Nikis snapped. He gasped as Janet spoke softly.

"I was lessening your burden." Janet felt...good. But so weak. "You...are needed, Nikis."

"Janet, I am _losing_ it!" Nikis said sharply. "Come on, let it out. The sword can take it back." Something cold was placed across her chest. She shook her head. "Janet... It will _kill_ you!"

"Figured that." Janet said with a calm that she didn't really feel. "Nikis, it is not your fault. It was my choice. Is my choice. I am going to help you."

"Janet, you can't." Nikis pleaded. "No one can. I can't... watch you die. I watched Kalina breathe her last. I can't do that again."

"You were going to stab yourself with the sword, weren't you?" Janet asked slowly. The sudden silence told her that she was on the right track. "It destroys energy forms, doesn't it."

"Not... entirely." Nikis said softly. "Nothing that anyone has ever found can destroy them completely. It reformats them. Bits and pieces will fragment off, survive that way. But only bits. It would dilute my madness. End the threat."

"By destroying who and _what_ you are." Janet said sadly. "No. I won't allow it. You are a good man. I won't let you die... without trying everything I can."

"Janet..." Nikis pleaded.

_**Creator...**_ The voice of what _had_ to be the Dark Sword spoke up. _**She speaks true.**_

"You _shut up_." Nikis snapped. " I should have purged you a long, long time ago. You got way too many strange quirks now."

_**That is your right and duty, Caretaker.**_ The sword replied evenly. _**Mine is to do as you created me to do. But safeguarding your **__**life**__** is also my duty.**_

"Stupid... stubborn... gah!" Nikis groaned and the cold metal was gone from Janet's chest. "I don't which of you is _worse_. The idiot human or the moronic AI."

"Nikis..." Janet pleaded. "It's okay."

"Janet, you have about a hundred micrograms of radioactive _dark matter_ inside your body." Nikis actually snarled. "It _ain't_ okay." Janet went still. Dark Matter?

"I... got that from touching the sword?" Janet asked, confused. "That... was virtual, wasn't it? All in my mind? How the-?" A finger touched her lips and she closed her mouth.

"Janet, I cannot say." Nikis said softly. "It has to do with what I am. My duty. My calling. My curse. Please, Janet. I am better. Let me take the burden from you. My warframe will heal _me_. The dark matter is poisoning you. It _will_ kill you."

"How long?" Janet asked softly.

"They are trying to filter it out." Nikis said heavily. "They won't be able to. You are not strong enough to survive the most rigorous of methods. So they are trying others. Janet... please...?"

"Nikis..." Janet said reasonably, then she paused. "How am I... Wait..." She groaned. "Nikis, what did you do?" The Nekros did not reply and Janet snarled half heartedly. "Nikis. What did you _do_? If I am that bad, I would be hooked up in an ICU and you wouldn't be talking to me alone if at _all_."

"Janet..." Nikis said heavily. "You are not going to wake up unless you get rid of the dark matter. This is virtual."

"Nikis." Janet growled savagely. That...wasn't right. Why was she so angry all of a sudden? It felt...wrong. Off. Not her. "This anger... isn't mine is it?"

"No." Nikis said softly. "It isn't."

"And you cannot say, can you?" Janet continued.

"No." Nikis confirmed. "Why did you do that, Janet?" He begged. For once, the hard bitten gunfighter wasn't angry. No, he was sad and sick. "I can't watch you die. I... I can't."

"I may not love you, Nikis." Janet said softly. "But I want to help you. And I _will_." Steel might have bent under her tone. "If this is virtual, then I have time to do things, yes?"

"Some, probably." Nikis said cautiously. "Time flows faster here than in the real world, but there are limits. What kind of _things_?"

"Nikis, if Rasputin gets hold of me again, he will do what he did before." Janet said slowly. "I couldn't fight it. I don't know why. If it was virtual..."

"He doesn't play by any rules but his own." Nikis sounded calm now, but it was a facade, Janet knew. The rage was there, just under the surface. "He learned how to bind energy forms early on and... He can't hold them _long_, but long enough. He would have drained you. Part of you. He does that and takes the energy of others into himself. Makes him very powerful. One reason he has lasted as long as he has. He is also sneaky as hell. Anytime one of us Tenno sense him, he flees."

"It won't help him this time, Nikis." Janet said softly. "Because now, _I_ will find him."

"Janet... no." Nikis said slowly. "If you... go after him, he will sense you. He will trap you. I might not be in time again."

"I am not going to go after him in this time, Nikis." Janet said softly. Nikis hissed in shock and Janet smiled grimly. "I assume he hid his core processes before you started looking for him." A grunt answered her and Janet smiled thinly. "So... I look back to _before_ he was hunted. You said he was a scientist?"

"Janet... if he detects you..." Nikis said softly.

"Getting information is what I do, Nikis." Janet replied, calming herself. "What I was trained for. This is... a little different, but not too much so. Spying is always a dangerous." She thought back and nodded a little. "I think I know how he blocked my returning to my body. It was probably a telepathic block. He couldn't stop me, but he could make me _think_ he had. Same difference in my mind. If I get in trouble, I call you and you will come."

"Janet, don't do this." Nikis begged.

"How long have I got, Nikis?" Janet said reasonably.

"A day." The Nekros sounded so lost and alone now. "Maybe less."

"Then there is no time like the present." Janet said with a smile. "Wish me luck?" She went totally still as something brushed her lips. A kiss? Had Nikis just _kissed_ her? She focused her mind and this time, she wasn't falling. She was _flying._

Janet hadn't been sure what to expect. But waking up in the middle of a large room that was filled to bursting with menacing looking machines was not it. But that was not what had her freezing. A human male stood, his posture shocked as he rose from where he had bent over a table where a young looking form lay still. But it was the warframe that stood in the middle of the room that had Janet quailing. A Nyx. But... not a regular one. This one was gold in places. Nyx Prime. Somehow she knew it wasn't just any Nyx Prime either, but _the_ Nyx. The First.

"Stop this madness." The voice was unfamiliar. Female, strong and confident.

"You Tenno cannot interfere." Janet knew the human's voice. This was Rasputin, but... not. It wasn't quite what he...would be.

"By the Code, we cannot interfere unless the Technocyte Virus is involved." Nyx agreed calmly. "But there are _older_ Codes, Peter who calls himself Rasputin. You will harm _no more children_."

Janet went still. She stared around and... she quailed as she saw an open door. Through it, she could see a number of still forms on cots. All still and covered by sheets. She gagged, but forced herself to watch as a shadowed form moved up behind the stunned scientist to grab the still form from the table and ease away with it. But the scientist had seen something.

"_No!_" The one who would become Rasputin screamed. "_That one is mine! Mine!_" Golden machinery came to life all around the room and Janet quailed as the shadowed form was suddenly outlined. A Trinity Prime. Carrying a small child.

"Trinity, go." Nyx said firmly as she cast power at the man who laughed at her. Trinity fled as the man focused his ire on Nyx.

"Did you think it would be that easy, Tenno?" The man said snidely as the Psychic Bolts had no effect.

"No." Nyx said quietly as machinery closed in on her. "No I didn't." She leaped up and sat in mid-air. Golden energy flared around her as she... She looked straight at Janet and nodded. "Stop him, Janet. You can."

Janet fled as the world exploded behind her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Becoming**

This...wasn't quite like the visions Janet had seen before. It was more, for one thing. Everything was more vibrant, more...real if that made any sense at all. She was running through corridors. They looked old. Dingy. Not -quite- Orokin in design. She wasn't sure what was happening behind her, but the rumblings were not a good omen. Nor was the piercing female scream that cut off with dreadful finality. Janet paused in her flight. Nyx, The _First_ Nyx, was fighting Rasputin. She had to...

"Nyx!"A scream propelled Janet out of the corridors into an open area. Trinity lay on the ground, odd colored blood seeping from a gaping hole on her warframe's chest. Janet had seen that fluid before. She had seen wounded Tenno before. She wanted to help, to aid the First, but she suddenly couldn't move.

_You may watch only._ The voice was Nyx, but... not. _You may not interfere._

_What is he doing?_ Janet demanded silently as a young form crept out of the shadows to press his hands against the Trinity's wound. The boy couldn't have been more than six or seven. His head was shaved and his face scared, but his eyes were bright with intelligence and sadness as he tried to help the stricken Tenno. Janet went still in horror. _He_ was bleeding from a shallow scalp wound. If the virus entered him... _Oh, my god he will get __**infected**__!_

_What must be, must be. _Nyx replied softly. _Watch only. _This was a command. Janet struggled but she couldn't move. She relaxed in whatever held her and watched the scene unfold.

"Boy... don't touch..." Trinity begged him, trying to shove him away. She couldn't.

"You are bleeding." The boy said firmly as he pressed hard on her chest, slowing the bleeding the only way he could. Janet went totally still. She _knew_ that voice. Younger, terrified, softer, sad. _Nikis?_ "You stopped him. I... He took me. I couldn't stop him. You _did_."

"No, we didn't." Trinity said sadly. "He took Nyx..." A rumble sounded in the distance and both looked up to see a fiery plume arc into the sky from not too far away. A rocket of some kind. "Oh god, he took Nyx..."

"He won't kill her." The boy -the very young Nikis- said softly. "But she will beg for it. They all were begging for it."

"Then it is as she feared..." Trinity said softly, a slow hand coming up to touch the boy's cheek. "They were not dead. Just... deeply sleeping after what he did."

"I..." The boy who would become Nikis swallowed hard, tears starting to fall. "I can hear them all screaming. They are begging me for help! What? What is _happening_ to me?" Janet gasped silently as his arms became skeletally thin. "Tenno, help me!"

"I will." Trinity said firmly. Both trembling hands came up and touched the boy on the brow. The change slowed and stopped. But his arms were so thin... Metal. "Oh..." She made a sad noise. "Hayden is going to be so mad at me. I lost Nyx and I got _you_ infected."

"I chose to help you." The boy said firmly. "And the ones I can hear? I choose to help _them_ to."

"You will need help yourself." Trinity said sadly. "What is your name?"

"My Da calls me Nikky. I don't like that." The boy said with a frown. "Girly name. Do I gotta be called that?"

"You can call yourself anything you want." Trinity said as a hum sounded in the near distance. "And here comes Hayden. Madder than hell." The boy quailed but Trinity snorted. "He will be mad at me and Nyx, not you. What do you want me to call you? Nik isn't a bad name."

"I want something different. I know _four_ guys named Nik." The boy said slowly. "Nik is..." He paused and then smiled. "That is...different. Niki-is. _Nikis_. I like _that_."

"Well met, Nikis." Trinity lay back, her horrible would no longer seeping. "Hayden, this is Nikis." Trinity said as several other warframes came running up. "He touched me while bleeding. I tried to stop him."

"Where is Nyx?" Hayden said as two of the other warframes drew weapons and entered the building behind them. All looked wary, ready to fight or flee.

"The monster took her. Her and the others. I could only save this one, but a security bot tagged me good." Trinity said weakly as another warframe knelt at her side. Janet shook her head. This... Rasputin was doing something that _all _of the First Tenno feared? "We couldn't leave kids in his clutches, Hayden. We couldn't."

"No. I can see that." Hayden said sourly. "So instead of kids, now he has _Nyx_ to play with." Hayden said softly. He started to say something and then looked at Nikis and visibly corrected himself. "Crap..."

"Then we go get her back." Nikis said firmly. Hayden looked at him and Nikis snarled, a faint echo of who and what he would become. "Or do you kill me now?" The First Tenno looked at him and to his credit, the boy did not flinch.

"Where did you come from?" Hayden asked quietly. "You have family?"

"My sis and da." Nikis replied. "I lived in Austin. Texas. I don't know where we are."

"Not that far from Austin." Hayden said with a sigh. He looked the boy over, nodding at the metal arms. "You will need to talk to your father."

"Do I _gotta_?" Nikis asked softly. Janet wasn't the only one who stiffened at the boys suddenly fearful expression. "I lost Caroline. I was supposed to stay with her, keep her out of trouble. He took her. I tried to fight. But I got beat. Da will be mad at me. I tried." The boy pleaded.

"I am sure you did." Hayden said sadly. "Trinity? Status?"

"I am alive, Hayden." Trinity said as Nova helped her sit up. "I am sorry, Hayden. He was going to move them soon. Nyx said there wasn't time." A soft snarl pulled all eyes to the side where another warframe was examining bits of tech that lay around the yard.

"Nyx never was flighty, Hayden." The Mag Prime sounded upset and Janet could relate. "If she did this, she had cause."

"Talia is going to flip." Hayden said softly. "Bad enough the guy's experiments. Now he has a captive Tenno? We better get her back. Fast."

"And we make it _hurt_." Mag replied. Nikis looked at her and his small face broke out in a huge grin. "What?" She demanded.

"I _like_ you." Nikis said with a snarl that matched Mag's. "If... Can I come with you? I want to get my sister back." Mag looked at him for a moment, then stepped up to him, her hand coming down to caress his cheek.

"You got balls, kid." Mag said softly. "I bet you hurt that son of a bitch, didn't you?"

"I did." The boy said savagely. "Didn't expect a kid to have a knife. But... Not _nearly_ enough." Nikis replied. "He made so many people cry. I can... hear them..." He was shivering and everything went still as Mag swung him up into her arms.

"It's okay, Nikis." Mag said quietly, but with dreadful force. "Let's get you taken care of and get our sister and _yours_ back." All of the other Tenno were staring at her and she snarled at them. "_What_?"

"Nothing." Hayden said as the group started off. "Nothing at _all_." He was obviously trying not to smile as Nikis held onto Mag for dear life.

Janet tried to follow, but she was moving again. _Flying_ again. She was reeling in shock however. Nikis... one of the _First Tenno_? That was... She had known he was old, but _that_ old? If he had been...around since the dawn of Orokin...and had been hunting Rasputin since then... Her mind boggled at that. She knew, intellectually, that Tenno were immortal in warframes. But that was just a bit too much.

Suddenly, Janet was standing in a large room, against one wall. The room was bare. No furniture. No nothing. A pair of Tenno in warframes stood by a door. An Excalibur Prime and a Banshee Prime. Hayden sat in seiza near the center of the room. and a human man clad in black stood in between the door and the First Tenno. There was something... off about the human. Then it clicked. He was _drunk_!

"I have come for my son." The man said in what was probably supposed to be an intimidating voice. Pity it ended with a hiccup. Janet tried hard not to giggle. This wasn't really a laughing matter. But this was _ridiculous_.

"As we told you before, Mr. Johnson." Hayden said reasonably. "Your son doesn't _exist_ anymore. He was exposed to the Technocyte Virus. He will need time and care to recover at _all_. Time and care he will not get from you." Hayden's voice was cold now.

"He is my son." The man named Johnson -Nikis' father?- said sharply. "He is a good for nothing lazy brat. But he is my son."

"_Good for nothing_ and _lazy_?" Janet went still as a door opened on one wall and Mag walked in, her posture angry. "Is that what you tell yourself when you _beat_ him? When you _sold_ his sister to that scum? We found lots of records in that lab of horrors. Lots of bruises too old to be from that monster."

"Give me my son!" Mr. Johnson snapped. Janet noted that Hayden... did not react. But his right hand hung free. Was it Janet's imagination that something small gleamed in it? Something... circular? Like the middle of a _Glaive_?

"No." Mag replied sternly. "You have proven yourself incapable of taking care of kids. When we _do_ find Caroline, we will find a _real_ home for her. Not with a womanizing _drunk_ who _sells_ his kids to _monsters_."

"You have no right to keep him!" The human demanded. "I know my rights. You Tenno cannot keep him!"

"Is that _so_?" Another voice spoke from the door and all eyes went to where a golden gowned woman stood with the boy holding her hand. She wore a golden crown. Mr. Johnson apparently didn't recognize her. Or care. "You might want to leave, Mr. Johnson, while you are capable of unassisted movement anyway."

"Nikky, come here!" Mr. Johnson said sharply. Nikis shook his head silently and the woman in gold frowned. "Nikky, I am your _father_. Come here!"

"You may have been my da." Nikis said softly. "But you ain't anymore. You... _sold_ Caroline? You told me to take care of her. I tried."

"She didn't bring much. She was a useless clutz." Mr. Johnson said savagely, hands balling into fists at his side. He...didn't seem to notice both warframes at the door take a step towards him, only to pause as Hayden shook his head slightly 'No'. "Starry eyed dreamers have no use in the real world."

"Starry eyed dreamers, is it?" Mag asked softly. Her tone was silky, dangerous. Mr. Johnson ignored her to take a step towards where Nikis stood. "Oh no." Mag said quietly as she placed herself between the man and his former son. "Get your stupid human _ass_ out of here. Now. While I am in a reasonably good mood. Or I _will_ throw you out the a main gate and let you _freeze_. Your son is more of a man at _seven years old_ than you will _ever be!_" She didn't shout. She didn't even _raise_ her _voice_ and that was somehow _worse_. Something finally got through to the drunk and he stared at her. "Get. Out." Mag grated out through what were obviously clenched teeth. "Now."

"He is my son..." Mr. Johnson recoiled from furious Mag and she let him retreat.

"Not anymore." Hayden said firmly. "With the evidence we recovered and the assistance of the Empress here..." At the word 'Empress', Johnson went white as a sheet and Talia, the First Empress of Orokin, smiled. It was _not_ a nice smile. "The Orokin authorities have remanded the young man who _was_ your son to our care. They also want to talk to _you_. Selling your own kids into _slavery_ has been illegal for a _decade_, Mr. Johnson. You might want to crawl out of the bottle and _try_ to keep up with the times."

"He is my son..." Johnson protested weakly. Mag snarled, a sound more enraged wolverine than human or Tenno.

"Get him out of here before I throw him out in _pieces_!" Mag snapped as she turned her back on the man to stride to where Nikis stood, ashen faced. Her voice moderated. "You have a new family now. You won't always like us. Sometimes you will hate our guts. But we will not let you down. Not now, not ever."

A brief commotion heralded Mr. Johnson being removed from the room and the tension level dropped dramatically.

"I don't know what to do." Nikis said sadly, manfully trying to stem tears that hadn't fallen where his birth father could see.

"For now..." Talia said gently as she let him go and Mag gathered him up. "You need to heal and learn how to use the abilities you have. The Tenno will help you and protect you, Nikis. Just as you will help and protect _them_." Nikis stared at her and gulped audibly as her crown glowed, just a little. "I need to get back. But it is good to see all of you again. Even under the circumstances. Just... Find Nyx, Hayden." This was not the Empress begging, but a scared young woman. "And when you _do_ find that monster? Make it _hurt_." She growled.

"We will." Nikis promised her.

Janet did not resist as she was pulled away. This was finally starting to make sense. She was being guided on this journey. She relaxed and spoke in her mind.

_Nyx?_ She wasn't quite sure of what she was asking. _You are guiding my visions? In my time?_

_Well reasoned, Janet. _The First Nyx said kindly. _There is much I cannot tell you._ The voice of one the first followers of Hayden Tenno said quietly. _But you needed to see this._

_Yes I did. _Janet said softly. _I understand him now. A bit. Not entirely and I doubt I ever will. I don't love him. Do I?_

_I don't think so. Or... not __**just**__ him._ Nyx said quietly. Janet went still. What did she mean by that? _Oh Janet, I have waited so long to talk to you and now, there is no time._ _I can go no further, Janet. What you will see from here on is for your eyes and ears alone. You will know why. And... when you do, you will know what must be done and how to do it._

_I am glad they got you back in one piece, Nyx._ Janet said fervently.

_They didn't. _Janet went still at that. _But I got better._ What the-? But the other presence was gone.

Janet was shaking her nonexistent head when a scene appeared around her. Virtual again. She could barely see the edges of golden code in places.

The room was... odd. Colorful pictures dotted the walls, but... they were done in _crayon_? There was a bed, a chair, a dresser and not much else. It was kind of hard to see the furniture. Stuffed animals were _everywhere_. Janet stared around, confused. This was a child's room. That was clear. Dirty clothes hung in places, trash had been pushed up against one wall in a pile that was reasonably tidy and showed a trashcan buried under it all. The bed was gaily colored, it's covers soft and inviting. A rank of pillows... Wait a sec... the covers moved and a dark space appeared with two eyes staring out at her.

"Hello?" The voice was familiar. It was Mira from before. But... the small form that crawled out from under the colorful covers of the bed was not human. Or...she wasn't _anymore_. "You shouldn't be here. Who are you?"

"My name is Janet and I am a friend." Janet said slowly, trying not to retch. Not to _bolt_. The top of the girl's skull was _gone_. Golden machinery showed through a transparent cover. The little girl wore a gown that was barely enough for modesty purposes and... Janet bit back a scream as she saw tubes coming out of places on the girl's body that tubes had no _right_ to come out of. Only when she was sure of her voice did Janet speak again. "What is yours?"

"I don't know." The girl replied softly. Scared. "I can't remember. It hurts..." She was crying now and Janet sat on the bed and waited until girl slid a hand out before touching it gently.

"It's okay, honey." Janet said quietly. "I am here to help. A bad man hurt you and I want to help."

"He hurt me..." The girl cried. "He hurt Nikky and he hurt Caroline and he hurt me..." Janet went still. This _wasn't_ Caroline? "It hurt so bad..."

"Come here." Janet said softly and pulled the girl up into an embrace, ignoring the whirring from the sobbing girl's head. "It's okay. It's okay..." She soothed the crying girl carefully. "He put you in a machine and it hurt." The girl nodded, obviously unable to speak. "And you do not remember who you were." The girl shook her head.

"It's all fuzzy." The girl said, hugging Janet tight. "Everything is fuzzy. I can't... I don't..."

"Easy." Janet soothed the girl. "I don't know if I can help, but I will try." She focused herself and then went still as she felt something odd. Something a lot like... Janet inhaled sharply as the feeling became clear to her. The feeling she had encountered just before arriving here. The same mental 'feel' of another being's mind. And not just _any_ being. "Oh my god..." Janet breathed, utter horror suffusing every fiber of her being.

"Nyx."


	11. Chapter 11

**The enemy of my enemy**

"Oh, Nyx..."Janet was trying very hard not to cry as she held the horrifically mutilated form to her chest. "What did he _do_ to you?" The little girl -or what looked like one in this virtual world- did not respond verbally. She hugged Janet tighter. "That filthy _scum_."

Janet shook her head. Anger wouldn't help. She needed information and the only source she had was hugging her almost too tight. She didn't care. This was virtual, a representation of a mind. She could guess whose, but it...didn't feel _quite_ the same.

"Honey?" Janet said when she was sure she had her voice under control. "Do you remember what happened?" She kept her hands away from the golden mechanisms on the girl's head. She had no idea what they were for, but knowing Rasputin? Nothing good. "Before?"

"It's all fuzzy." The girl said through sobs. "It hurts and it is all fuzzy. My head feels weird." The girl jerked and then she screamed. "You have to go, ma'am! He is coming! He is coming for me!"

"I am not leaving you." Janet said sharply, but then she was pulled away. "No!" She screamed as she was flying again. "No! Let me go!"

She flailed around, but her fists met nothing. She wasn't even sure if she was actually physically capable of hurting people in this form. But she was willing to find out. She was rapidly understanding why Nikis hated Rasputin so much. Then she landed again, only to hiss in even worse horror. Nyx lay on a table, the top of her warframe helmet sawn off. Golden machinery was connected to the brain matter that had been exposed. Rasputin was clucking to himself merrily as he worked controls. Janet charged him and gasped as her form flew right through him with no effect at all. She couldn't do anything... Just watch.

"Silly Tenno." Rasputin said to the unconscious form on the table. At least... Janet prayed Nyx was unconscious. "There was no need to fight. I wasn't _breaking_ your precious Code. I wasn't dealing with the Technocyte Virus. My methods have been... unrefined. _You_ will help refine them. Your powers will give me the ability to extract the knowledge I need with less... damage to the subjects. So thank you. Wasting time waiting for them to recover was always a bore."

"You are a fool." Janet went still as Nyx's voice came from nearby. Her eyes bulged as she saw a chair with a small form in it. The girl's face was _so_ like the boy who had become Nikis, but there was something subtly...wrong with it. The features were not quite right. A golden helmet was around her head. The mouth worked and Nyx's voice came from it. "You do not know what you have done. You have _no_ idea what you have done."

"I have found the key to true immortality, Tenno." Rasputin replied, not fazed at all by Nyx's harsh words. "All I needed was a proper means to ascend and now? I have it. You and your foolish kind cannot stop me from finishing my research. No one can."

"Ascend?" Nyx said with a snarl. "You have no idea. None. You think your _power_ will save you? Your _intellect_? You have lived a fool and you will die a fool." He ignored her.

"Who were you taking to before?" The mad scientist asked. "In the lab? You said a name. Janet." Janet went still, praying with every fiber of her being. "Who was that?" Nyx did not speak and Rasputin made a sour noise. "I can tear the knowledge from you, my dear. Especially now that I have absorbed your powers."

"Temporarily." Nyx said in a snide voice. "Not that you have any idea how to _use_ them."

"Oh, I think I do." Rasputin replied easily. "Mira... Ah, here is the girl." Janet was stunned to see a pretty girl of preteen years step into view. Her face was slack and her eyes dull. Her skull was the same horror that the girl in the virtual world had been. But..._that_ had been Nyx. Hadn't it? "Mira, take the information from Nyx."

"No..." The girl begged as her body shambled towards where the Tenno lay on the table. "Don't make me do bad stuff again... I am sorry..." She pleaded to Nyx.

"It's okay, girl. Mira." Nyx's voice came from the sitting girl. "You cannot stop him, but sooner or later, someone _will_." The little girl's eyes were on _Janet!_ "I just hope they make it _hurt_."

_I will._ Janet promised silently. _Somehow._

"Enough dawdling, Mira." Rasputin said with a snap. "Take the information. Now."

Mira sat down in a chair beside the table and golden tubes arced from the machinery attached to the Tenno's skull to Mira's skull. She jerked as they connected and then her voice came again, a monotone.

"Connected." Mira's voice was robotic, but her eyes were streaming tears. "Searching. Searching."

"I thought I knew what human evil _was_, Rasputin." Nyx said heavily. "I was not totally correct. Taking a teenage telepath and operating on her brain to enslave her was wrong. Destroying her mind in the process was just a pleasant side effect, yes? And then connecting _my_ mind to this poor disabled girl's... You are one hell of a piece of work. I am going to _enjoy_ watching you die."

"What happened with Mira was an accident." Rasputin said offhand. As if it really wasn't worthy of his notice. Or he was humoring Nyx. "I did not intend what happened."

"Bulls***." Nyx replied just as offhandedly. "A clinical experiment. See how far you can tweak a telepath's brain before it breaks. Pull the other one, moron. I know all the standard lies."

"Believe what you will, Tenno." Rasputin replied calmly. "I will have what I need soon. From Caroline and the others. Then I can finally shed this mortal coil and show all my idiot colleagues how wrong they were."

"You really think _that_ is what is going to happen?" Nyx asked, incredulous. "You..." She chuckled softly. But there was little mirth in it. "I was wrong. You are not just evil. You are _stupid _and evil_._"

"Enough." Rasputin said sourly. "Mira, search status?"

"Unable to correlate." Mira said in a robotic voice. "Irregularities defy definition." Rasputin stared at her, his face incredulous and Mira continued. "Unable to verify presence. No identity of person designate 'Janet' available in subject memory."

Janet let out a slow sigh of relief. Apparently her presence here wasn't quite detectable. So far anyway. The face Nyx was inhabiting looked wary and Janet nodded silently. One eye closed in a slow wink and Janet smiled. Nyx wasn't _close_ to broken. Nyx could see her, but Rasputin and Mira could not. Nyx had hidden the information about seeing Janet in the lab somehow. But then again...Janet had apparently spoken to _Mira_, so if Rasputin asked Mira about Janet... Mira would likely have to tell him.

"Very well." Rasputin said with a sigh. "Go. You need another flush."

"No..." Mira begged as her body rose. It... paused and Rasputin snarled and waved his hand. It continued on it's shambling way. "No, don't... Don't..."

She was begging and pleading as her body walked into another room. A glimpse into it had Janet wanting to puke. The door remained open and Janet could see Mira lie down on a table that had an odd golden machine at its head. Her skull slotted into it with a click and her body went slack, golden fluid travelling along tubes from the machine to a tank that stood nearby. A tank large enough for a human to stand it and nearly full of the golden fluid. Rasputin smiled as he looked at the tank.

"Almost time." The madman said with a smile. He nodded to the girl with Nyx's mind trapped inside. "I would wish for a more neutral witness, but you will do. And you will serve."

"Not you. Never you. So, now you have what you want." Nyx said quietly. "Now you kill the kids?"

"No." Rasputin said with a sigh. "I am not a murderer, Tenno. Once I have ascended, I will make sure all of the donors are cared for properly. Even you." He said sourly.

"_Sure_ you will." Nyx replied with a tone that simply oozed fake admiration. "Out of the goodness of your heart." She gasped as golden energy flowed from the small human girl into Rasputin's outstretched hand.

"I have had enough of your backtalk. Know your place. Anyway... No." Rasputin said with a snort. "Eventually I will need a consort. I will assist her ascension as well and we will live together forever." Janet went still. Was _that_ was he wanted her for? Some kind of sick... She went still as he did. "Who is _here_?" He demanded. "With the Tenno's power, I can... _almost_ feel you." He glanced around and Janet quailed a his gaze landed on her. His eyes went wide.

"_Janet! RUN!_" Nyx screamed loud enough to deafen and Janet needed no further incentive. She fled.

Odd. Janet had no physical body. But her heart was pounding in her chest as she fled back along the paths she had come to know. Rasputin wanted a consort. And... a powerful one. Someone with powerful psi abilities. He would probably drain her as he had the others. Was that what he had been about to do when he snagged her mind? He was obviously a complete nutcase, and convinced that his way was the only way. She had dealt with such fanaticism before, but no one quite so powerful.

_Janet?_ Nyx's voice was soft, worried. The present time Nyx.

_I have to go back._ Janet said as she forced herself to be calm. _I have to see where he put his core processes. That was a space craft of some kind, yes?_

_I don't know. _Nyx said sadly. _Nothing is clear of that time. Just pain and fear. And..._ Her voice turned grateful. _You. I didn't know who you were. Just that you were trying to help. I saw you in the lab, felt you, but then it all turned fuzzy. Then Mira touched me and I knew your name again. Janet... _Her voice turned worried as Janet focused herself. _Be careful. He knows you exist now. He will be watching._

_The wrong places. _Janet barely recognized her own voice as she was flying again.

She did not jump into the scene that unfolded in front of her. Instead, she eased herself partly in from one side. Odd that, but things were becoming easier as she practiced. It was a lot like covert surveillance. She bit back a snort. Actually, this was _exactly_ what it was. She would have _killed_ for such abilities when she had just been a spy. The room's layout was the same. Tenno on the table, the girl in the chair against one wall. But now, Rasputin was leaning over the immobile warframe, his hands on the machinery that encased the remnants of Nyx's skull.

"Who was _that_?"The man demanded. "Who was that... that woman?" Nyx screamed, an awful sound of pure agony. Janet jerked, but she knew the rules now. She couldn't interfere. All she could do was bear witness."Stop resisting and tell me! Who was that?"

"She doesn't know." Mira sat in the chair beside Nyx's still form, her head connected to the again. "Stop... please..." The girl begged. "She doesn't _know_. You will kill her. Stop..." She pleaded.

"I _will_ have an answer." Rasputin snapped as power flared from his hands. This time, both Nyx and Mira screamed and both went limp. "Damn it..." He shook his head as he withdrew his hands. "Maybe you _didn't_ know, Tenno." The scientists sounded... odd now. Hungry. "But I will find her. Sooner or later. Janet... I will remember the name. She was..._powerful_." Janet shivered at the naked avarice in his voice. The lust, but not for her, for her _abilities_. He shook his head. "Six, take Mira back to the donor ward."

Janet went still as a human boy stepped out of the room of horrors she had seen before. His head was mutilated the same as the others and his eyes...were _closed_. A puppet. He stepped to the table and waited. The machinery retracted and he lifted Mira's form easily. He carried her towards the door. Janet made a snap decision and rose from the floor, following him. She was careful to keep her movements small and stay out of Rasputin's line of sight. He was powerful, no question. But he was also limited. As Nyx had said, he didn't know how to use the abilities he had stolen. From the others as well? If Mira had been a telepath... Had _all_ the others been psis? A question for another time.

Janet made it through the door and ghosted to the side of the small cramped room as the boy laid Mira's still form on the table that Janet had seen before. As before, machinery snicked into place and golden fluid started to flow again. Janet had been wrong. There were not six tables in here, there were a dozen. All but one held a small form with golden machinery on their skulls. The boy that Rasputin had called Six moved to the empty table and lay down. His head clicked into place as well and golden fluid started flowing from _him_.

_This is wrong... Evil..._ Janet forced the anger that she felt back. It wouldn't help here. She focused her mind and was flying again. This time, the flight was short.

The little girl from before was sitting on her virtual bed, crying. Janet shook her head a little. A virtual prison of some kind for the kid's mind. She wondered if _any_ were still sane, then moved beyond that. She had work to do. And she finally understood a few things.

"Oh, Honey..." Mira jerked as Janet sat down beside her. The little girl stared up at her, fear warring with pain in her eyes. "It's okay."

"You... you can't be here!" the girl said sharply. "He will find you. Hurt you... the same as he hurt all of us."

"I can't leave you to cry alone." Janet said gently. He gathered the girl up in her arms and soothed the terrified form gently. "You see, I have a daughter. You are younger than she is, but that doesn't matter."

"He will know you were here." Mira stared around fearfully. "You can't stay!"

"I know." Janet said quietly. "But I need to know something else. Did he drop off something as he flew this thing? Did you hear anything different as it rumbled?" The tiny compartments were probably the spacecraft that Rasputin had escaped aboard with Nyx from where Trinity had rescued the boy who had become Nikis.

"I... I don't know." Mira said softly. "I sleep a lot. Here. Only when he needs me do I wake." She jerked. "But... why am I awake?"

"I needed to talk to you." Janet said gently. "But Mira..." She pressed gently. "He does not control you." Mira jerked again and Janet hugged her.

"But he _does_!" Mira exclaimed. "He took the odd looking woman's power like he took mine and he can make us move whenever he wants to. It used to be he had to use a controller thing. Now he just..." She sobbed uncontrollably into Janet's shoulder. "He gets in your head and you can't... he makes me do bad things and I can't... I can't..."

"It's okay, Mira..." Janet crooned, alternating her words with caresses and pats to comfort. "It's okay. It's not _you_. It is him. He is using you. Using your body and your abilities. How long has he had you?" She asked, worry surfacing. For Mira.

"I don't know." Mira said sadly. "All the others... they came later. I don't know where they came from. But he... he made me... They all scream and then cry and then lie still as I do it." She slumped a bit. "I do it. I drain them."

"It's not _you_, Mira." Janet pressed. "It's the evil man. Not you, honey." She shook her head. "We need to stop him."

"I can't fight him." Mira said weakly. "I tried and he hurt me. So bad... It hurt... so bad..."

"Mira..." Janet said reasonably. "I can't do this. You need to. The only reason you can see me, that I can interact with you, is that you have the ability of an Oracle. You have it. But he doesn't, does he?" Mira stared at her, uncomprehending. "He doesn't know? Does he? That you can see the past and the future?" Mira stiffened.

"How do you know about _that_?" Mira begged. "_No one_ knows about that! I hid that... from... everyone... I was...a freak enough just touching people's minds."

"You are _not_ a freak." Janet said fiercely. "You are a little girl who has been abused in a horrific way. And the reason I know?" She sighed sadly. "I am the same way. Mira, look. See what he did to you. You are strong girl. You will need that strength."

"I haven't... tried...since... since he..." Mira swallowed hard. Her eyes went far away and Janet waited until she gasped and gave a small moan. "He took me. My parents... They... they threw me out for being strange. He took me off the street and he... I..." Her gaze hardened. "I will kill him."

"Mira..." Janet said softly, giving the girl a shake. "If you try, he will hurt you again. You need to pick your time and place. And I think I know when he will be most vulnerable. When he enters the tank to try and ascend."

"He will want me to do it first." Mira said weakly. "Will it kill me?"

"Yes." Janet said sadly. "But that will not end this horror."

"I don't understand." Mira said softly.

"Neither does he." Janet said quietly, but the fires of hell that had sounded in Nikis' voice sounded in hers now. The need, the _hunger_ for vengeance. "He is my enemy and _yours_. There is an old, old saying, Mira. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. _I_ am your friend, Mira."

"And I will help you to stop our common enemy."


	12. Chapter 12

**There are certain people you do NOT anger**

Janet was ready. She hoped. This was not going to be easy. But every time she faltered even a little bit she looked down at the horrifically mutilated girl beside her and her resolve formed up again.

"Mira." Rasputin's voice was mocking as it came into the virtual prison. "Oh Mira, our time is now... _What?_" Janet treasured the poleaxed look on the evil human's face as he materialized inside the prison and she held a finger to her lips.

"Shhh, don't wake her." Janet said softly, but with command. "She has had a bad day. You _are_ right about one thing, scumsucker." Janet said calmly as she stroked Mira's cheek. "Your time is nearly up. I would say something about how it is time to turn back, but you won't. And truth be told? I don't _want_ you to. What awaits you is far, far worse than anything you have done." Rasputin stared at her, obviously unsure of what to say. "What is _this_?" Janet asked snidely. "The evil one has run out of _monologues_? The mind boggles."

"Who are you?" The scientist looked warily around, but Janet and Mira were alone in the room.

"My name is Janet, but you knew that." Janet said quietly. "And that is all the information you will get."

"You were in the lab both times." Rasputin said slowly. "You were the one watching."

"Yes." Janet said and did not elaborate.

"Why?" Rasputin asked slowly.

"I am going to quote a friend of mine." Janet said with a nasty smirk. "F*** off." It was delivered totally straight face, almost deadpan. He scientist took a moment to digest that she had insulted him. "You don't get that information."

"I can take it from you." Rasputin said slowly, his face easing as he realized that he was still on his own ground. This prison he had created for Mira's mind was his.

"You can try." Janet replied. "I don't recommend it."

"What possible...?" Rasputin began and trailed off as Janet's smile grew wider. "You are some kind of trap. Did the Tenno send you?"

"What _is_ it with you megalomaniacs?" Janet ignored his question. "Why is it always about _you_?" She shook her head slowly. "The universe couldn't care less about one selfish stupid moron who probably never got laid in his _life_. Why should I? I came for Mira here." Her smile turned tender as she stroked the sleeping girl's cheek and Mira muttered something in her sleep. "You will leave her alone." This last was cold and hard.

"Or?" Rasputin asked, his tone turning firm as well. "Trying to make me angry won't work."

"I know." Janet's offhand reply seemed to catch Rasputin off guard. Her grin turned vicious again. "Ask me if I _care_."

"Why don't you care?" Rasputin was cautious now. Something...wasn't right here.

"Why should I?" Janet asked snidely. "Either your machine works and you die, or the Tenno find you and you die for what you did to one of them. Either way..." She shrugged. "You are _dead_. Why _should_ I care?"

"I will prove my theories right." Rasputin said firmly. "And you will help."

"Oh?" Janet was still snide as she shook her head. "Ehhh! Wrong answer. Try again." Rasputin obviously did not know what to make of this. She was being as rude and sarcastic as she could. Which was pretty rude and sarcastic. "Come on, pal. You are going to try your wonderful new mind powers, right? Go ahead. I haven't got all day." Rasputin raised a hand and energy flew, but whatever he threw passed right through her to no effect. It was mostly bluff, but she hadn't been able to affect _him_. It stood to reason that he wouldn't be able to affect _her_ easily, if at all. She smirked at his dumbfounded expression. "So smart and yet, so _stupid_." She shook her head.

"What are you?" Rasputin demanded.

"You do not get that information." Janet said firmly as she rose. "Ordinarily, I would warn you off your chosen path, try to get you to see how clueless you actually are." She shook her head. "But eleven young lives decided me." Hate sang in her voice now. "You are going to beg for mercy for a long, long time and it will _not_ be granted."

"None of them are dead." Rasputin actually recoiled as Janet took a step towards him. "What do you _want_?"

"You really think that?" Janet said sternly, ignoring his question. "You are _so_ freaking clueless. Their bodies may walk and talk with you playing puppeteer, but _they_ are gone." Her eyes narrowed. "And you know it, don't you? The flow of energy has dried up, hasn't it? _That_ is why you took Nyx. That was a trap for her all along. I take it back, you do have _some_ cunning. Not a lot of _smarts_ but some cunning." Rasputin snarled at her.

"I have become smarter than any human ever has been!" Rasputin declared. "I will show everyone when I ascend just how smart I can be. How powerful." He flushed as Janet yawned dramatically.

"Yadda, yadda, yadda..." Janet said mildly, buffing her nails on her sleeve. "Been done." Rasputin flushed even further.

"No, it hasn't!" Rasputin snapped, his composure failing.

"Mira? Now." Janet flung herself to the floor and golden energy cascaded from the bed to slam into Rasputin. Mira sat up, her hands outstretched, golden energy pouring from them.

"Bad, _bad_ man!" Mira declared as she threw everything she had at Rasputin who stared at her, shocked. But... the energy deflected as he held up a hand. The power cut off and Mira rose to stand by Janet who laid a hand on her shoulder.

"What have you done?" Rasputin demanded. "Mira, obey me!"

"You do not rule me." Mira said firmly. Only the trembling of her flesh under Janet's fingers betrayed her fear. "I am not your slave!"

"No?" Rasputin said, his tone turning cold. "So be it. Code... Evangeline." Suddenly, they were standing in the lab. Mira's body lay on the table that Nyx had been on. Mira jerked awake and screamed. Janet recoiled as the girl's form suddenly was glowing bright with power. Then she was there, but... golden energy. She was _energy form!_

"Mira!" Janet cried. "Run! Remember who you are! My friend! I will find you! I swear it!" Rasputin went stock still as Mira's form wavered and vanished.

_I will remember..._ Mira's soft voice was in Janet's head. _My friend... _Then she was gone.

"It worked." Rasputin said softly. "It really worked." He smiled, only to pause as Janet shook her head. "What?" He demanded.

"So, you used her as a test subject." Janet kept her voice level with effort. "How many have you killed trying?" She asked quietly.

"They were of no consequence." Rasputin replied calmly. "You however...are intriguing."

"Be careful what you try, Peter." Janet said quietly. "You have no idea what you are playing with. The powers in play here are well beyond your pathetic human ability to comprehend."

"My name is Rasputin." The madman was still calm. "And I am going to ascend now. You will bear witness."

"Will I?" Janet kept her voice low and steady, despite her burning desire to rend the lunatic limb from limb. "Really?"

"Yes." Rasputin smiled. "Nyx, restrain our guest please." Janet flinched as power flared around her. She knew without trying that the bonds could hold her. She looked and Nyx stood to one side of the lab, she had been out of line of sight. "Sloppy." Rasputin said with a evil grin.

"Was I?" Janet asked calmly. Rasputin looked at her and then shrugged.

"Your evasion are...interesting." Rasputin said with a sigh. "But of no consequence. Once I have ascended, you will serve me. All will serve me."

"Well, then by all means." Janet said with a matching shrug. "Do it." Rasputin paused and Janet laughed. "I see. The high and mighty wanna-be evil overlord is _afraid_." She chuckled sourly. "Now _that_ I _will_ bear witness to. Bwak bwak!" She flapped her arms like a chicken in the limited area her bonds allowed and smiled widely at his expression. "Rasputin the Chicken, high and mighty _moron_ of the universe." She had the pleasure of seeing his face turn red. "Or should I call you Peter the _Rabbit_? Will you run away now, Peter?" She asked snidely. "That is what you are best at, is it not? Fleeing." Her voice was cold now, the anger that had come into her from Nikis surging to the fore.

"Who _are_ you?" Rasputin asked slowly. "How do you know me?"

"Oh, come off it, Peter." Janet sighed in exasperation. "Stop faking your curiosity and do what you said you would. Or don't. I _do_ want to watch you die. Should be...entertaining."

"You are an enigma." Rasputin said slowly. "I can feel your fear. I can feel your anger. But... neither rules you." He shook his head slowly. "Whatever. In a few minutes you will see the truth and you will answer every question I have. One way or another."

"Yadda, yadda, yadda." Janet said again as she crossed her arms and buffed her right fingernails on her left sleeve. "You can shoot me, you can cut me, you can stab me, you can burn me... You can cut my _head_ open and put those machines in me, you can do _anything_ you want, but for the love of god, Peter... Please stop _boring_ me." She declared with a long suffering sigh.

"You...want me to ascend." Rasputin said slowly, confused.

"No." Janet said in a tone as if she were speaking to a not-quite-bright child. "I want to watch you _try_. You will die. Screaming." She said with a smirk. "And I want to _watch_." Rasputin's eyes went wide and she smiled wider, a feral promise. "I want to saver every moment of your agony. You have earned every moment of your agony and then some."

"You know not of what you speak." Rasputin said sternly. "I will show you. You will bow to me and I will rule this world."

"Ah..." Janet said with a nod. Rasputin stared at her as she snirked. "Had to have the total global domination thing in there somewhere. It's part and parcel to all the evil overlords, you see."

"You...are very strange." Rasputin sounded part confused, part intrigued. "Once I have ascended... I will ferret out all of your secrets."

"Ah, Peter." Janet said with another long, drawn out sigh. "You have no idea. _Literally_."

"My name is Rasputin." The evil man said firmly as he strode for the door to the other room. "And you _will_ call me 'Master'."

"Only in your dreams, loser." Janet said with a laugh. "And that is likely the closest you will _ever_ get to a woman. In your _dreams_." She said nastily.

Rasputin stalked to the tank and opened the top, climbing a short ladder. He started to disrobe and Janet averted her eyes with a grimace. It was pure coincidence that her eyes lit on Nyx. Of _course_ it was. Nyx was shaking her head a little, but the warframe was shuddering. In anger or laughter? Hard to say.

"I hope you haven't eaten within the last thirty minutes." Janet called as Rasputin started to lower himself into the tank, the golden fluid sloshing. "You might get a nasty cramp." She had hoped he would drown, die that way, but he pulled a mask of some kind out of somewhere and set it over his face.

"Shut up!" Rasputin snapped as he immersed himself in the tank. "You will see. Institute plan Alpha. Protocol Seven." Janet jerked as the energy surrounding her suddenly flared bright. "Not so snarky now, are you?"

"_I_ am not the one you need to worry about." Janet smiled grimly as Rasputin stared at her. "Mira? Now."

It hadn't been easy to plan. After all, since Rasputin could and would access Mira's mind at will, anything that Janet told her to do would be instantly available for the evil one's perusal. So Janet hadn't told Mira anything. She had simply told the girl to use her ability to _see_ what should be done. And sine Mira had _lots_ of practice hiding that ability... it came as a complete shock to Rasputin when the tubes that connected to the tank suddenly _retracted_. Golden fluid spilled out of the tank onto the floor and Janet smiled nastily at the expression on the evil human's face. His eyes went huge under the mask as Mira appeared, standing beside Janet, her face a rictus of rage.

"What have you done?" Rasputin demanded, struggling to escape the tank. But the top wouldn't budge.

"Oh..." Mira said softy, an echo of Janet and Nikis' anger in her youthful voice. "_I_ am not the one you need to worry about? Miss Nyx?" She turned to he still warfame. "I am sorry." She said, abject as she reached out to touch the still Tenno with a glowing transparent hand. Nyx... jerked and a snarl came from her. "I... I can't hold him... for long..." Mira begged Nyx. "I am sorry." She repeated.

"It's okay, girl. Wasn't your fault." Nyx said as she straightened and took a step towards the tank. Energy was suddenly dancing around her. It was... dark. "Well, well, well..." Nyx's voice was cold and hard as she scrutinized the suddenly terrified Rasputin. "You want immortality? You will _get_ it. But first..."

She raised a hand that was suddenly glowing _dark_! Janet jerked. Dark matter! The same as Nikis' sword? A bolt of energy slammed from the infuriated Tenno and tore across the room to pass through the tank as if it wasn't even there. Rasputin screamed and jerked in the tank.

"No!" Rasputin screamed. His scream tapered off into a rasping gurgle and Janet's eyes went huge as his face went slack and he started to _drool! _He jerked and recovered his face scared. "What have you...?"

"I just freed one of the poor souls you enslaved." Nyx said with a growl worthy of _Nikis_. Or...maybe _he_ had learned how to growl from _her_? Another bolt of energy tore from her, making the man jerk again. Nyx... wilted as Rasputin recovered again.

"Miss Nyx?" Mira was shaking in effort now. "I can't hold him..."

"Easy, Mira." Janet said, trying to touch the energy form to comfort her. But her hand passed right through Mira without effect. "Nyx..." Janet begged.

"So be it." Nyx said with a sigh. "Janet... it was good to meet you. Mira... get clear." Both hands were coming up now and both glowed even more darkly.

"No." Mira's voice sharpened. "If I release him, he will take control of you again." She cried out as her form wavered. "Hurry!" She begged.

This time, _five_ bolts of psychic energy flew from Nyx to tear bits of Rasputin's stolen energy away from him. He screamed loud and long, but Nyx collapsed to the floor.

"Nyx!" Janet cried, going to her knees beside the Tenno. "What can I do?"

"Remember for me." Nyx said softly. "Warn... the others. This... won't stop him. Mira..." She was shaking as she raised her hands again. The dark energy was visibly fluctuating. She was putting all of her... _All_ of her energy?

"No!" Janet cried as Nyx threw every last bit of energy her warframe had at the tank bound evil one. The Tenno collapsed in a heap and lay still. Nothing living was quite so still. Rasputin jerked and screamed again, this time, his face went slack and stayed that way. "No, no, no..." Janet begged. "Nyx... don't die... You can't _die_ on me. Not after all of this."

"She isn't gone, Janet." Mira said firmly. "I can feel her. She is...sleeping. But... so is evil one. I can't stop it. The change."

"Don't... don't overstress yourself." Janet said slowly as she slumped a bit. "Do you know where we are?"

"Yes." Mira said absently. A holo appeared one wall of the room and Janet nodded. A dot was shown flying over the largest ocean on Earth. "Miss Janet... if he becomes like me, there is no way I will be able hold him. What do I do?"

"Mira." Janet said softly. "He is going to become energy form. You need to get away from him. Run!"

"If I do..." Mira said slowly. "He will do this again and more. Worse. A dark man will hunt him, but..." Mira swallowed heavily. "I won't be able to fight him, Miss Janet. He will take me. Make me his again. I... I saw it." She was crying now.

"I know." Janet felt her own eyes burn. "Oh, Mira. I have to do _some_thing."

"You will. My friend. You _will_ find me." Mira said with a soft, sad smile as she... vanished. Janet stared at where she had been and then jerked as the tank suddenly vanished as well. It hadn't teleported! It had _fallen_ _through the floor!_

"Mira!" Janet screamed. She ran forward to see a hatch closing. But, far, far below, she could see water. Nothing but water. "Oh Mira..." Janet knelt beside the still Tenno and keened. A flash drew her attention to the holo which showed a parachute far below the still hurtling rocket. Janet bowed her head. "_Earth_..."She said softly , but with silky danger in every syllable. "He was on Earth. She is with him. I can find _her_. And I _will_."

Hell itself might have flinched from her cold regard in that moment.

* * *

><p>Janet hadn't had to stay, but she had wanted to. The ship had touched down lightly and she had waited. She hadn't had to wait long. A horrid rending sound of metal preceded a huge Tenno into the small room as he <em>literally<em> tore a hatch from its mountings.

"Nyx!" The huge Tenno went to his knees beside the still warframe, coincidentally right where Janet was kneeling. She shook her head as she rose and moved to the side. "Come on, Nyx... talk to me! It's me, Rhino. Nyx, come on!" He begged her as he shook her.

"Is that my name?" Nyx asked in a childlike voice. "I don't know you." Then she went still again. Janet recoiled. How _much_ energy had Nyx _used_?

"Aw shit." Rhino said with feeling and then he touched his helmet. "I found her. She is a _mess_. We need medics here _now_!" He gathered the far tinier warframe up and cradled her gently. "It's okay, Nyx. It's okay. It will be okay. It's over."

_No, it isn't. I need to warn them this isn't over..._ Janet thought to herself. _But how?_


	13. Chapter 13

**Dark Choices**

Janet stood silently watching as the medics worked on Nyx. Other Tenno were working on the children. They had removed every one of the hurt beings from the small craft and now Nyx lay on a cot in a temporary medical center the Tenno had erected on the beach. Almost a tropical paradise, Janet mused. If you ignored the small spacecraft that sat nearby and did not know the horrors that lay within. Several Tenno were tearing the inside apart looking for information.

"Nova? Saryn?" Janet had never thought to hear the First Tenno's voice. And to hear it like _this?_ So worried. So scared for his sister.

"She is alive, Master Hayden." The one called Nova said with a satisfied nod as she stood back from the ban of medical gear that had simply appeared as they had commanded it to. "She took a _massive_ hit to the psyche though. I think... Saryn?" She asked and the other warframe that had been working on Nyx nodded.

"I don't know what she did or all of what was done to her." Saryn said sadly. "Her vital energy is so low. I think she retreated a bit. Her memories are still there. I can read the chemical/energy clusters." She paused. "Most of them."

"_Most?_" Hayden queried.

"There is some degradation, Master Hayden." Saryn said with a sigh. "You know... what we are." Hayden gave a 'get to the point' nod. "We are energy. More so now that humans. Still partly organic, but energy. She lost a _lot_ of hers. Either she threw it or it was taken. The loss did some damage to her memory cortex. The most recent parts. It is unlikely she will remember what happened."

"And... that?" Hayden gestured at the golden machinery on Nyx's skull.

"We are not sure _what_ all of it was intended for. The control mechanisms are similar to Orokin devices used for violent prisoners or psychiatric patients. We know those designs, we helped create them. But the rest?" Nova said with sigh. "It doesn't access any parts of the brain humans normally use, Master Hayden. We _think_ that was where her powers came from but we are not sure. We have been seeking understanding of our gifts, but it has been slow since we don't want to cause any harm to our kin. We can remove it safely, but not here."

"Not causing harm is good." Hayden said with a nod. "Nyx in particular would be.. upset." Saryn and Nova both nodded. He shook his head. "The humans?"

"Master Hayden..." Saryn sounded nearly in tears. "They did not have Nyx's skill or protection. The damage is... worse and very pervasive. I... fear than none of them will recover."

"Oh dear." Hayden said with a sigh. "Do you know which one is Caroline?"

"Yes." Saryn said with a nod to the side where a small form lay still on a pad. "The resemblance is clear. Master..."

"He says he can hear them." Hayden said softly. "With Trinity down, you are our medics. I need your professional opinions. Is Nikis...capable of handling this?"An expansive wave encompassed everything on the beach. Saryn and Nova shared a glance.

"No." Nova said firmly. "He is strong, but he is only seven years old. He has had too many shocks already." Janet nodded to that, not wanting to move for fear of somehow alerting the Tenno to her presence. They would likely not react well and Nyx needed care _now_. Saryn shook her head.

"I disagree. He is very strong. And _more_ importantly... _Mag_ will disagree." Saryn said quietly. Both Hayden and Nova winced and Saryn shrugged. "She bonded to him. They like each other. If we hide this from him, or worse... _lie_ to him about it..." Nova winced again and Hayden sighed deeply.

"There are days I _really_ hate being the patriarch." Hayden said sourly and then looked skyward. Then he nodded. "I told Mag. She will bring him and..." He slumped a bit. "She says she will tell him. She says it will come better from her." He shook his head again. "Damn it, I had hoped for a happy ending."

"We all did, Master Hayden." An Excalibur Prime -_No! Excalibur!_ Janet corrected herself- saluted Hayden and the First Tenno waved irritably at him. Seeing all of the First like this was... intimidating. "We have searched the ship. No sign of the one who did this and the computer systems wiped before Ember could access them." Hayden growled and Excalibur hurried to speak. "Not her fault. We think it was set on a timer. She blames herself."

"Not her fault." Hayden agreed calmy. "But that monster _must_ be found before he does this again. And if he..._drained_ Nyx somehow...?" He paused. "Saryn, did you analyze that residue we found on the floor?"

"Yes, Master Hayden. It is some kind of psycho-reactive substance." Saryn said uneasily. "Not anything I am familiar with. Best guess? It conducted some kind of energy from the ones he had modified to... somewhere. But there is no sign of whatever the fluid was put in. I did take samples. I will analyze them further when we get home."

"Be _very_ careful." Hayden said quietly. "Assume Level Five containment protocols are needed." All of the First went still at that as did Janet. Level Five was the highest hazmat protocol. It had been since the Technocyte Virus had been discovered and all other protocols hadn't been _enough_. "Until we know otherwise, treat those samples as _highly_ contagious hazmat." The other three nodded and Excalibur left the tent. Hayden nodded to the others. "Will moving Nyx hurt her?"

"Not that we can find. Saryn said quietly. "Moving her from the ship would have hurt her if it was going to. Master Hayden..." She said slowly. "If that monster can link to her somehow..."

"The Citadel has the best shields available." Hayden replied calmly. "Psychic and otherwise. If that can't break any link between her and the monster, then the link cannot be broken. We will not leave her alone and her warframe system will be neutralized until we can be sure of her. She needs time anyway. Both for us to remove this horror and to recover her energy."

"And the others?" Saryn asked carefully. Janet went still. Was Hayden about to...?

"Mag and Nikis will be here momentarily." Hayden said softly. "Take Nyx home. You did well."

"Master Hayden..." Nova sounded horrified and Janet could relate. "Don't... They are just kids!"

"Nova..." Hayden said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder. "If we can save them, we will. If we can't... What is more merciful? Leaving them like this or ending their suffering? No matter what, if it comes to that, I will not make _you_ do it. Or Nikis." Both other warframes bowed their heads slowly and turned back to Nyx's still form. Hayden sighed and left the tent. Janet, after a moment of stunned shock, followed the First Tenno.

_He can't do that!_ Janet said savagely in her mind. _He can't! _She wailed as Hayden walked to the line of still forms laid out on the beach, a lone Tenno watching over them. The Frost Prime nodded to Hayden, but did not speak.

"Get everyone ready to go home, Brother." Hayden said quietly. "I assume the ship is rigged to blow?"

"What intel was there has been recovered. At your command, Master Hayden." Frost replied. The golden hooped helmet looked at the line of still forms and then at Hayden. He did not speak again, just laid a slow hand on Hayden's shoulder and then turned and stalked away. Hayden stood, staring down at the small, sleeping faces, his posture sad.

"Master Hayden?" A small voice asked and Janet turned to see Nikis standing beside Mag. He held onto Mag's hand tight as they stared at the forms laid out on the beach and the young Tenno's face was pale.

"Nikis..." Hayden held out a hand and Nikis moved to take it. "This is going to be very hard for you. It may not be possible. Mag..." Hayden said softly as Nikis turned to look at the older female Tenno.

"Nikis..." She said as she nodded to the boy. "If you want to talk, after, you have but to ask. For now, I need to help my kin pack up." Nikis bit back a cry of alarm and Mag nodded. "Duty, Nikis. It is the single hardest thing we Tenno learn. There is a time for sentiment. This is not it." She stepped close, took his free hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "Master Hayden... I..."

"Go." Hayden said softly. Nikis swallowed hard as Mag bowed to Hayden and turned on her heel. As she moved off she was cursing Rasputin nonstop under her breath in several languages. "Walk with me, Nikis." Hayden started off down the beach, Nikis holding his hand. Janet was loathe to follow, to intrude at such a time, but she had to warn them. Somehow.

"Caroline is not going to get better, is she?" Nikis asked, his eyes full of unshed tears.

"I don't know, Nikis." Hayden said sadly. "I don't think so. You said before you could hear them. Can you now?"

"I... think so." Nikis said slowly. He spoke slowly. "Hello? Um... Oh...Hi, Caroline. This is.. Oh, duh, of course you were listening.. Oh, sure..." He seemed to listen for a moment. "They are waiting for something. Caroline says... _what_?" He asked someone Janet couldn't see. "I don't think that will.. Okay, okay... sheesh..." He recoiled a little and Hayden looked at him oddly. "Caroline says she needs to talk to you. But... I dunno."

"Nikis, I can't see or hear her." Hayden said reasonably, but then he went still as Nikis raised a hand. "Nikis..." The First Tenno warned.

"I can do this..." Nikis said slowly as he raised hand over his head and an orange transparent form suddenly appeared in front of him. "Ah... that _hurt_, Caroline!" He complained.

"Quit whining, ya big baby." The girl's voice was sad and filled with compassion instead of insult though. Janet stared. The girl was the one that Nyx's mind had been in on the ship. Janet looked back and yes, that one was one of the still forms laid out on the beach. "Nik, ya gotta let me go." The girl said softly.

"I can't, sis." Nikis said heavily. "I was supposed to take care of you. I _am_ supposed to take care of you."

"Ya did, big brother." The girl's voice was... not quite right. Janet couldn't decide if she was just slow or what. But her heart was easy to hear in the love she projected to Nikis. "Ya tagged that evil bastard good."

"Not good _enough_." Nikis said savagely. Janet scoffed. He hadn't changed much in all the... She froze as Caroline went still.

_Can you hear me?_ Janet asked softly in her mind and stared as Caroline gave a cry of fear.

"There is someone else here! A woman!" Caroline said sharply, fear twisting her features. "I don't see her! Nik?"

"I don't feel anyone." Nikis said, his own gaze jerking here and there. "Master Hayden?"

"What is she saying, Caroline?" Hayden asked softly.

_You can hear me._ Janet said softly. _I am not your enemy, child. Not the Tenno's._

"She says...she is not an enemy." Caroline sounded dubious. None of the other three relaxed.

"Why is she here?" Hayden asked, still calm.

_I wanted to help. I did. Some. _Janet said quietly. Caroline translated her word for word. _Maybe it was wrong of me to do it, but Nyx needed help. I gave it._

"_If_ that is the case..." Janet did not miss that Hayden had not relaxed and his Glaive was in hand now. "Then I thank you. But I doubt you will assume trust." Janet snorted.

"She... She laughed at that." Caroline said, concerned. "That was rude."

"Maybe." Hayden replied uneasily. "But then again... Why is she here now?"

_Because this isn't over._ As soon as Caroline translated that, Hayden and Nikis both went still. Janet continued. _Rasputin got away. His slave, a poor girl named Mira died in one of his tests and she became pure energy. I can only assume that he did as well._

"Energy?"Hayden declared. "Oh dear."

_He wanted to be immortal._ Janet said sadly. _To rule everything. But Nyx and I spoked his wheels but good. _Caroline chuckled at that and Nikis looked as if he wanted to smile. Hayden just shook his head. _You cannot believe me, Master Hayden Tenno. I have no proof. All I can say is this: He __**will**__ be back._

"I feared as much." Hayden said softly. "And if he does... these... will be his first targets, will they not?" Caroline gulped and Nikis had a stone face.

_I fear so._ Janet said softly. _He is not in the main database. _Hayden jerked as Caroline said that. _You knew. _Hayden did not move and Janet had her answer. _The Empress and you knew. But you cannot say. No, child, do not say that... _But it was too late, Caroline had. Nikis shook his head.

"I swear not to speak of this to anyone, Master Hayden." A small knife appeared in his hand and he cut his metal palm with it. "By Blood and by Steel, I swear it."

_Nikis! _Janet snapped, exasperated. _You __**stubborn**__..._ She trailed off, muttering.

"She is not happy with ya, brother." Caroline said with small smile that faded. "Brother... We are trapped in these shells. If the monster returns, we will not be able to resist him. He will use us to hurt other people. Many other people. Master Hayden Tenno... please free us." Nikis slumped and nodded.

"I will do it." The boy said slowly.

"Nikis." Hayden said gently. "No. I can do it painlessly. I can make it as quick and easy as possible. You _can't_ yet. You are not strong or trained enough. Let me take this burden from you, brother."

"Please let him, Nik..." Caroline paused and then smiled. "No. Ya name is Nikis now. It suits ya better. Ya were a _rotten_ Nikky." She said with a smirk as Nikis groaned but nodded.

"There is something I need to do, Master Hayden." Nikis said as Hayden rose, his glaive vanishing. He wouldn't need it. Not for this. "I was told to take care of her. So I will. She will... join the main database?" Hayden nodded. "Then I will take care _of_ that database. I will care for the dead. I will learn how to protect our kin and the shades of the dead who reside there from scum like that one." He bowed formally to Hayden who bowed back and turned to his horrific task. "Caroline..." He said sadly.

"We are not gone, brother. We will be free. This is the only way to save us from that horror. Don't look." Caroline said sadly. "Remember me as I was." A sound came. A sick, sharp crack. Then another. It came again and again from behind Nikis, but he did not move. She smiled a bit forlornly. "I love ya, Nikis."

Then her form wavered and vanished to the sound of another crack. Only then, did Nikis lay his head down to the sand and cry. Janet was crying as she took flight again.

* * *

><p>They really hadn't had a choice. Leave the kids in their eternal slavery, as playthings to a sick and evil man or free them? That wasn't a choice. Not really. Janet knew that. But it hurt. It hurt <em>so<em> bad. She barely noticed the physical pain as she landed on something soft. She barely realized she was still crying.

"Janet?" A soft female voice sounded from nearby, but when Janet tried to turn her head, it wouldn't. She could hear the sounds of medical gear all around her. And she couldn't move! Not at all. "Easy..." The voice said as Janet felt panic start to rise. "We have you on spinal block. I think we got all the dark matter out. But we are not sure." Janet opened her mouth and was amazed when all she could do was croak.

"Nikis?" Janet put a wealth of worry in that single word and the voice sighed.

"We finally got him to rest about an hour ago." The voice said quietly. "You saw." It wasn't a question.

"Losing it." Janet said sadly. "Needs help. You?"

"I have tried, Janet." The other said sadly. "I tried so hard, but he won't let anyone in. Maybe he would have listened to Bellina, but Bellina is gone. The secrets he bears, the pain he carries is too much. Too much for anyone else."

"Must... help..." Janet said as she tried to move her head, only to gasp as pain flared.

"Easy." A hand touched Janet brow gently. "The dark matter hurt you. The only way to get it out quickly enough to save your life hurt you too. You will heal, but it will take some time."

"No time." Janet said sternly, both to whoever this was and to herself. But she was suddenly floating again. "No..." She begged. "I... need... to..."

"You need to rest." The voice was implacable. "If you die, Nikis will lose it. So we are not going to let you."

"I know where Rasputin's core processes were." Janet forced the words out past her lethargy. "Please..."

"Doc..." The female voice sounded shaken. "If she _does_..."

"Keeping her awake will _hurt_ her!" A sharp male voice answered. "No. Sleep now, Ma'am."

Janet was screaming as the darkness embraced her. But...

_**Do you really know where the evil one lairs?**_ The voice was familiar. Nikis' Dark Sword. _**Truly?**_

_Yes. Or...where he __was__._ Janet gasped in her mind and then she was encased in something. It felt... warm, but not. Calm, but not. _Who... what are you?_

_**I am Mortis.**_The sword replied. _**And I wish my Creator's destruction less than you do.**_

_'Death'? _Janet said with a soft chuckle. _That fits._

_**Indeed.**_ The sword replied. _**Are you ready, Oracle Janet? **_

_Let's do this_


	14. Chapter 14

**Oh my**

Janet hurt. Every single fiber of her body hurt. But she managed to open her eyes. She stared down at the tubing that was connected from her body to the sword that lay on a table close at hand nearby. The room was packed with several large banks of medical looking machinery.

_**We do not have much time.**_ The sword said into her mind. _**The doctor or the other will return soon. Or the Creator will wake.**_

_Right. _Janet scrutinized the machinery for a moment and then sighed. None of it was familiar. _This is beyond my skills. Do you have any idea how to fake this stuff into thinking I am still here?_

_**No.**_The sword said slowly.

_The moment I try to disconnect, every alarm in this place will likely go off._ Janet said with a sigh. _I... They saved my life, did they not?_

_**Yes. It was very brave, what you did.**_Mortis said calmly. _**But also very foolhardy. You have no warframe. No mental protections.**_

_It was needed._ Janet said with a sigh as she lay back. _I wasn't going to let Nikis die. He is a good Tenno. _She snarled at herself and sat up, her hand reaching for the sword.

_**HE disagrees.**_Mortis said with a sort of snort. Not that a sword could. But then again, _this_ sword could _talk_, so maybe a snort wasn't totally out of the question. Whatever else the sword might have said was cut off as a door opened. Janet stared at the warframe that stood there. A Saryn, but... gold showed in places. A Prime.

"Janet..." The female voice from before was resigned as she stared at Janet sitting up, her hand halfway to the sword. "Don't you _dare_. Not after all of this."

"I know where Rasputin's core processes must be." Janet said with a snarl. Or, she tried to. Her audible voice was a croak. "The tank he was in fell into the largest ocean on Earth. The Pacific, I think it was called."

"We knew that." The Saryn said quietly, taking a slow step into the room. "We had his flight path from orbital scanning but there was no sign of anything dropping over land." She shook her head slowly. "Janet..." Was she about to _cry?_ "_Please_."

"You don't understand." Janet said slowly, her hand going back to her lap. "I talked to Mira. His slave. She is likely with him or close to him. I can find _her_." She begged.

"Mira?" The Tenno paused, her hand halfway to a control bank, likely to sedate Janet again.

"I watched as he turned her into energy." Janet said sadly. "She freed Nyx... And Nyx kicked his ass." The other stared at her and Janet pressed forward. "Mira didn't want to serve that scum. He took her, took control of her again I bet."

"What happened?" The other asked slowly. "Nyx... didn't remember."

"Mira was an Oracle." Janet said softly. "She wasn't trained or anything. Her parents threw her out for being odd and Rasputin found her, snatched her off the street. She was his first test subject." The Saryn actually winced at that and Janet could relate. "I saw him take Nyx. I saw Nikis get infected. I saw..." She slumped, tears staring to fall and the Saryn stepped closer, her hand coming down to take Janet's.

"Janet?" The other's voice was worried now. "What?"

"He wants _me_." Janet said weakly. The pain was starting to flare again. "To be his _consort_." At that, the Saryn recoiled and Janet nodded. "To rule with him. If he drains my ability like he has done so many others..." She shook her head. "You can use me as bait. Trap him." She pleaded.

"Janet, do you have any idea at _all_ what Nikis would do?" The other said sourly. "My name is Rachel by the way. I didn't mean to be rude."

"Well met, Rachel." Janet gave the Saryn's hand a squeeze. "I don't mean to be a pain. But I can _help_. I want him _stopped_." Hate sang in her voice now. "Not for me. For Mira, for the others he has hurt. For Caroline."

"Caroline?" Rachel asked, confused. "Who was Caroline?"

"Nikis' little sister." Janet said sadly. Rachel jerked and Janet snarled. "She had... gifts. Rasputin took her, hurt her. Did the same things to her that he did to Nyx. I understand Nikis' hate now. So much time, so much pain and fear. So many hurt for _one_ insane human's greed."

"I... never knew he had a sister... before." Rachel said slowly. "I... I have known him all my life. I never guessed. What happened to her?"

"Don't ask me that." Janet said fiercely. "It... it was needed... but... Please don't ask. I can't... handle it." Rachel went still and then she sighed.

"Is she still enslaved by Rasputin?" Rachel asked, concerned and Janet brushed her own tears away with her free hand.

"No." Janet said quietly. "And that is all I am going to say." Then she went still as a sudden brainstorm hit. "Rachel... this is going to sound... somewhat insane." Rachel chuckled with no mirth.

"After the _last_ couple of days." Rachel said with a sigh. "What is one _more_ piece of insanity? Hit me with it."

"Someone said something about Nikis not listening to anyone." Janet said, slowly feeling her way through her idea. It didn't seem any less crazy after a moment's reflection.

"Oh he _listens_. He is a very _good_ listener." Rachel said with a sigh. "Then he does his _own_ thing. Always has, always will."

"Not... always." Janet said softly. "I am in the Citadel, am I not?" Rachel looked at her silently and Janet shook her head. "I am not asking for secrets, Tenno. I am asking... Can you contact someone in the database?" Rachel did not move and Janet shook her head again. "He won't listen to you. He won't listen to _me_. But I think I know _one_ person he _might_ listen to. But... finding her will not be easy."

"Janet..." Rachel said in a warning tone.

"Look, I know it exists." Janet said slowly. "No more than that. And frankly..." She grimaced. "I don't _want_ to know any more than that." She shook her head. "He has dealt with the shades of the First for millennia." Janet said quietly. It was not a question. "While he respects them, he can destroy them if he has to. And they _know_ it. It's his job, isn't it."

"I can't tell you that, Janet." Rachel said quietly.

_**It is.**_ The sword replied. Rachel jumped and her head were on weapons as she glared at the blade. _**My duty is to my Creator, Tenno Rachel. He needs help but cannot admit or accept it.**_

"Mortis, please..." Janet begged and the sword was silent. Rachel was staring at her and Janet shook her head. "Rachel, please. We are going to lose him. You know it. I know it. Maybe...maybe this can help."

"Janet." Rachel groaned. "You don't know what you are asking me to do. I cannot interfere in the database. That is Nikis' domain. His job, yes. And he is darn good at it. If I start poking around in his turf..." She shook her head. "I know better than to play on his lawn."

"Lawn?" Janet mulled over the odd word and then shrugged. Not important. "I am not asking you to, Rachel. I do not want conflict between him and other Tenno. He has enough on his plate as it is."

"So..." Rachel's face was obscured, but the posture said suspicion. "What _are_ you asking?"

"I need to talk to Mag."

* * *

><p>Janet was floating now, but not quite out. The doc had come in moments after Rachel had...well, she had not fled. But the Saryn had retreated far, far quicker than decorum would have said wise when Janet had dropped her bombshell. Not that Janet could blame her. What little she had seen of the First Mag was...<p>

"You got stones, girl." The voice came from nowhere and Janet gulped as a golden transparent form appeared nearby. The Mag Prime was standing as if amused. "I will give you that."

"I am scared out of my mind." Janet admitted. "This is way, way beyond anything I was trained for. But Nikis needs help. Help he will not accept from me. Or you." Her last was a statement. Mag nodded slowly.

"He always was stubborn." Mag said with a sigh. "Good kid, but...stubborn. And now?" She shrugged. "Rachel said you wanted to talk. So talk."

"He won't talk to me or anyone else in this time." Janet said quietly. "And... no offense... You are his _job_." Far from offended, Mag just nodded. "So... we need to find someone who he _will_ talk to. Someone who he _can_ talk to. Someone old enough and powerful enough not to be scared into compliance."

"I don't know of anyone like that." Mag wasn't arguing. Indeed, she sounded thoughtful. "He knew the Lotus before she became an AI. No one else would be old enough. And he hates the Lotus."

"If this is...classified information or whatever..." Janet said softly. "Then tell me not to ask. But are all of the shades in the database... awake?" Mag stared at her and shook her head slowly.

"No." Mag said quietly. "Not covered by any rules. Don't know what you could _do_ with that information. Most of them are actually asleep at any given time. If he woke them, took control of all of them..."

"I saw it." Janet shivered and actually saw Mag do the same. "There is _one_ person who might be able to get Nikis to talk. But as I told Rachel, finding her is going to be a _pain_." Mag stared at Janet and then, wonder of wonders, _recoiled_.

"_You cannot be serious!_" Mag snapped. "Do you have _any_ idea what Nikis will do if he catches any of us...waking _her_?"

"_You_ won't." Janet said firmly as she reached for Mortis. "All I ask is for a guard. Someone to keep me from harming the database." Her hand closed around the sword. "Please don't destroy me." She begged the sword.

_**I will not.**_ The sword hummed in anticipation, but did not glow as she raised it and reversed it.

"_Janet_!" Mag screamed. "Rachel, _STOP HER!_"

The door behind Mag hissed open and two warframes flowed into the room at enhanced speeds. Rachel and a Volt that had gold in places. Another Prime. Both ran to the bed, one right through where Mag stood and both grabbed for the sword.

Too late.

The sword tip pricked Janet's arm and red hot darkness sang through her. She... felt...

* * *

><p>She wasn't floating now. She wasn't flying. What the hell? Janet wasn't... She didn't. She wasn't really here. Or... she was, but... This was <em>very<em> odd. A line of text appeared in her vision.

_Protocols matched. Cross the threshold?_

Janet forced herself to be calm. This was what was needed. Nikis needed help and there was maybe _one_ person in any kind of existence who could help him. Who could help him help _himself_. She took a deep breath that seemed to do nothing and tapped the line of code.

_Now_ she was falling. She landed on her hands and knees on a solid surface. It felt... right. She was wearing an odd white garment. Half smock and half robe, it covered her, but... She looked up and froze. All around her, forms in white garments like hers stood watching her. Male and female humans, all ages. Every skin tone and body type she could have imagined stood watching her calmly. She rose slowly to her feet. _Oh dear..._

"Have no fear, Janet." One of the women stepped forward, her face serene. "We have been waiting for you. For a long, long time."

"Who are you?" Janet stared around wildly, but she was surrounded. None of these seemed hostile, but...

"My name is Eva, Janet." The woman said softly. "I shared your gift while I lived."

"_Gift_?" Janet nearly exploded. "This isn't a _gift_! It's is a damn _curse_! I had to _watch_! I had to _watch_ it happen. Everything. I couldn't help Nikis, I couldn't help Nyx or Caroline or any of the others... All I could do was _watch_!"

"Yes."Another said softly. "A curse indeed." The male took a step forward, only to pause as Janet jerked back. "We mean you no harm, Janet. We have been... hoping to see you. My name is Jean."

"Where am I?" Janet snapped. "What _is_ all of this?"

"This is a private partition of the Orokin database." A young looking girl with dark skin stepped forward now, but her eyes were far, far older than her face. "My name is Nari. All who share our ability come here. We cannot allow the idiot Orokin to try and use us for their Game."

"Wouldn't be good, no." Janet felt faint, but forced the feeling back. "I ... I have to..."

"It won't work, Janet." Another male took a step towards her. She was being hemmed in on all sides. "All it would do is infuriate Nikis further. I am Oleg."

"I have to do _something_." Janet begged, staring wildly this way and that.

"Yes." A voice Janet knew spoke and her gaze was pulled to where a young girl stood, her face calm. "But not through me, Janet." Nikis' sister! Caroline smiled and it was a sad, but proud smile. "Oh Janet... Ya are so brave. So brave and so strong. Just what we need."

"Caroline!" Janet slumped. "I don't know what to do." She crumpled to her knees. She couldn't fight these people. "I am just human, playing in things that _gods_ among us fear. I... I don't know what to _do!_" She wailed. "Did I kill myself for _nothing?_"

"Janet." Caroline stepped right up to her and then, to Janet's amazement, gave her a hug. Janet hugged her back."Ya ain't dead, Janet. Not yet. They _will_ pull ya back. But before they do... We have a true gift for ya. Use it wisely."

"But..." Janet felt nothing but confusion. "I don't understand."

"Ya will." Caroline promised her. The girl hugged Janet again and then laid a slow hand on Janet's brow. "Ya will be what the human race needs. Not a prophetess. Not a savior of some kind to come and do it all for them. A guide. Talk to Shepherd when ya get the chance, Janet. She is far, far wiser than her years." Janet felt something happen, but she was too tired and spent to move. She felt... energized. But... so tired.

"But... Caroline..." Janet begged. "What do I do about Nikis?"

"Be ya'self, Janet." Caroline was the only robed form that was now visible through the power that was suffusing Janet's entire being now. "Word of advice... Nikis' bark is worse than his bite, but his bite _is_ pretty darn bad. Do _not_ let him have time to set himself." Was she fading now or was Janet. "And look to ya own feelings, Janet. Ya might be surprised."

"Would... No. I am human." Janet said weakly. "I can't... he is Tenno. Better than I will ever be." Was it her imagination that Caroline sighed?

"I tried." The girl's voice was sour. "Sheesh, and ya'll call _me_ a kid?"

* * *

><p>Janet was shaking her head in confusion as down turned to up and she fell towards the ceiling and a bright white light that was growing out of a spark there. She passed through something that hurt and was immediately assailed by soft cursing. She was back on whatever surface she had been on, and Mortis lay beside her, it's tip coated in red.<p>

"You idiotic human." Mag was... in a word... _P***ed_. "After all of that you really had... to..." She trailed off as Janet looked at her. "No..." Was Mag actually... _scared?_ "_Rachel! Roger! Get back!_" She cried. Janet felt... calm. She was calm. She saw the Saryn and Volt from before back away from whatever they had been doing, both with postures of fear as she...

Janet was floating in midair. She was upright, her hands at her sides. Nothing hurt. Nothing. Everything was... She was...calm.

"I will harm none here, Mag." Janet said softly, but the sheer power in her voice stunned her. What the _hell_? "I feel... good."

"Janet." Rachel said cautiously. "You are _glowing!_" Janet stared down at herself and yes, she was. It was green, but not evil looking. No, this looked natural. Like... like fresh grass, or healthy leaves, or a sky just on the edge of a storm. It felt...

"I don't know what happened." Janet said softly. "But I feel good. Calm. I don't...feel any different. But the pain is gone. Mortis? What do you sense?"

_**You are radiating in several frequencies.**_ The sword sounded unsure. _**None are dangerous to human flesh. Indeed, most would stimulate rest and rapid healing. Tenno? **_It asked.

The Volt had a scanner in hand and the Saryn was watching her like a hawk. Mag hadn't moved.

"I don't scan anything wrong." The Volt said after a moment. "Your injuries have all healed. Even the one you just inflicted on yourself." Janet looked at her arm, but there wasn't even a scar.

"So I am a green lamp that can _heal_ people." Janet said with a touch of whimsy. "Wonderful. How do I...?" She gulped as she fell, landing lightly on her feet. The light she had been casting winked off. "Dang, what did they _do_ to me?"

"What did _who_ do to you?" Mag asked after a moment. "You were only gone for a few milliseconds. Not long enough to find or talk to anyone. I found you fast and brought you back." Janet looked at the Tenno and shook her head. "What?"

"I shouldn't say." Janet said softly. "There are secrets that must _remain_ secret, Mag." The spectral Tenno stared at Janet and then nodded slowly. She was going to speak again, but the door hissed and Nikis strode in, his posture angry. He froze as Janet started to glow again. She felt...she could _feel_ his pain, his fear, his anger, his sudden worry. "Hello Nikis." Compassion sang through her now. "We need to talk."

"Janet?" Nikis sounded poleaxed. "What?"

"It's okay, Nikis." Janet said softly.

"It will be okay."


	15. Chapter 15

**Nikis**

"Rachel, Roger, Mag?" Janet was still calm despite her heart trying to beat it's way out of her chest. "I need to talk to Nikis. Alone."

She could feel his worry, but it was dampened somehow. She couldn't sense his thoughts, but his emotions came through clear and strong. She was glad for whatever was helping her, just feeling what he did was awful.

"If you think we are _leaving_ you with him..." Rachel said sternly. "Think again. Nikis take that... _thing_ out of here." She jerked her head at the Dark Sword that lay on the bed Janet had so recently been ensconced in. Nikis stared from Janet to the sword and back.

"Nikis." Janet said, the calm in her voice a balm for the tension in the room. "We need to talk. In private. Now. I don't know how long I can hold this... This... whatever it is."

"I felt a ripple in the datastreams." Nikis said slowly. "It felt familiar." He shook his head. "But not -quite- like you. How are you awake and healed?"

"I talked to Mortis." Janet said evenly. Nikis went still and Janet sighed. "It is worried about you. The same as the rest of us."

"Janet." Nikis was ignoring the others in the room, his entire focus was on Janet. "There is nothing that can be done. I have..." He actually recoiled as Janet surged forward, her face stern. She knew what to do. She had no idea _how_ she knew what to do, but she did.

"You have given up." Janet said with deep sadness. Nikis recoiled from her and all three of the others stared as Janet advanced on the gunfighter who was shuddering. "Nikis... I refuse to give up on _you_." Her hand was glowing bright with crisp clean, green energy as she held it out to Nikis. "I am human, you are Tenno. But you are a good man. I know that now, more than ever. But I knew it the moment I met you. You scared the _hell_ out of me, but I knew... somehow... that you were a good man. A scarred and hurting man, but a good man." She extended her hand further. "For so long, you have had to be Death walking. To be _the_ Guardian of the Dead. But you are not alone, Nikis. I am she who will help you. Who was _meant_ to help you." Mag stared at her, her spectral eyes wide. Then, the unthinkable happened. Mag... bowed. _To Janet._ Then she vanished. "Rachel, Roger, please." Janet begged. "He won't talk with you here. Please cut the recorders. The codeword is 'Gaia'."

Rachel stared. The Volt who served as a doctor stammered something but both went still as another warframe entered the room. The Oberon Prime warframe bowed deeply to Janet and ushered them from the room. He left without a word.

"_Gaia_?" Nikis demanded, his tone stunned. "Janet, what the hell?"

"The primal mother. The being in Greek mythology from which all others came from." The calm within Janet suffused every pore, every nerve. "Oh Nikis..." She took a step towards the Nekros who stared at her hand warily. "I won't hurt you, Nikis. I can't. My job is to _heal_. To _mend_. To _nurture_ and _educate_. To _help_. "

"Janet..." Nikis gasped as she took another step. "Don't. I can't stop it."

"Nikis." Janet said softly. "You do not have to. Did you _really_ think the Orokin _or_ the Tenno would have trusted a _seven year old_ with such power without putting _some_ kind of safeguard in effect?" She smiled kindly as he sputtered. "I can help, Nikis. If you want me to." She slumped a bit. "As this, I... I have to love all, Nikis. I cannot love only one. I suddenly wish... I could." She felt her eyes start to burn. "Nikis, I don't want you to die. I do love you. You Tenno are part of the cycle just as everything else living is."

"Janet..." Nikis said slowly. "I...I can't..."

"_You_ don't have to do _anything_." Janet said softly, taking another slow step forward. She was less than a meter from him, well within his reach. Her hand remained upright. "I can help you. But I have no right to compel you. So I am just going to say this: Come with me if you want to live." She stood and waited, her hand not moving.

"Janet..." Nikis shook his head slowly. "I cannot do that to you. The stresses would tear your mind apart. Kill you."

"No they won't." Janet was amazed that her voice was still calm. "I know you are scared of what might happen, Nikis. Frankly, so am I. But not of you. Of the _future_. I am human, you are Tenno. Long term, we would not work out. We are very different. But this I _do_ know. Of all the Tenno I have ever encountered, there is only _one_ I know that I can trust." Nikis stared at her, obviously trying to speak. "I am a _spy_, Nikis. I do not, _cannot_ trust. But... I did. I _do_." She did not move from where she stood. "I trust you. Despite everything. I do trust you."

"You shouldn't." Nikis said sadly. "And... you are married."

"The Janet who was married is gone, Nikis." Janet said softly. "She can never see that family again." She bowed her head a little. "I can help, Nikis. But you have to choose to accept my help. It is hard. I know." She said sadly. "I have had to rely only on myself for a long time too. But..." She shook her head. "Kalina wants you happy. So do I."

"You fight dirty, Janet." Nikis complained. "I am too-" He paused as Janet scoffed. "What?"

"If you say you are too old, I _will_ laugh." Janet said in a mild voice. "You were what? Fifteen, _six_teen when you took up your warframe? Tenno do not age in warframes. If anything _I_ am too old for _you_!" She smiled fondly. "Ask me if I care."

"Fourteen..." Nikis said in a dazed voice. Janet shook her head. "Janet..." Nikis pleaded.

"Nikis, I can help." Janet said as the green glow suffusing her brightened in intensity. "But the choice has to be _yours_. They need you, the Tenno_. I_ need you." She admitted. "You make me feel... good. Safe. It's not... a feeling I am used to."

"Janet." Nikis slumped a bit and then held out hand which Janet took. She pulled him to his feet easily despite his warframe and he sounded stunned. "What happened to you?"

"A number of people decided to help." Janet said with a smile as she pulled the unresisting Nekros close and hugged him tight. "Now, we need a virtual world. A private one. I know what to do. But...I need your help. I cannot _create_ virtual worlds, even though I have been in them before. We should sit."

"Okay." Nikis sat slowly and went still as Janet sat in his lap and held him tight. "Any... preferences?"

"Make sure the bed is comfortable." Janet said with a wide smile as she snuggled closer to the Nekros. Nikis stiffened and she hugged him tighter. "Trust me, Nikis." She pleaded.

"I do." Nikis said sadly. "But..."

"No, 'buts', Nikis." Janet said softly. "No words now." Then they were elsewhere and Nikis jerked as his warframe vanished in a haze of green energy along with her patient gown. "Shhh." Janet said softly as she pulled him close...

* * *

><p><strong><em>Quite <em>a bit later**

"And I thought _I_ was crazy..." Nikis said softly as he studied Janet's sleeping face. "I... didn't..." He slumped a bit and shook his head. "Oh Janet..."

"That woman is very brave." The voice was familiar and Nikis hastily covered Janet with a sheet as Nyx appeared nearby. The First Nyx shook her head. "It's nothing I haven't seen _before,_ Nikis." She said dryly.

"Doesn't the word 'Private' mean anything to you, Nyx?" Nikis asked sourly, but the rage he expected didn't come. It was... well, not gone. But muted. The green energy that suffused Janet's still form even now was countering his darkness somehow. "And what did you do to her?" Nikis demanded.

"I didn't." Nyx said calmly. "Caroline did." Nikis jerked and Nyx nodded. "You can argue with _her_ if you like... You won't win." She said with a chuckle that faded. "I found another copy." Nikis nodded sourly.

"I hope you made it hurt." Janet said sleepily. "Nikis?" She reached for the male Tenno and he let her cling. "You better?"

"I don't know what you did, Janet." Nikis said softly. "But... The madness is gone. The memories are still there. The anger, the hate, but the _madness_ is gone." Awe sounded in his voice now. "I feel... good. What... what happened?"

"Nyx?" Janet asked as she looked at the hologram. The shade of the First Nyx nodded.

"What is the opposite of Death, Nikis?" Nyx asked quietly. Nikis just stared from Janet -who was still glowing softly green- to Nyx and back.

"Life." Nikis said slowly. "But..then she is..." He shook his head. "I don't understand."

"I am human, Nikis." Janet said softly. "Mortal, fallible, fragile. But _alive_. That made me a good choice to channel this, yes?" She asked the shade who nodded. "I do love you, Nikis." She said heavily. "But you are going to have to let me go eventually. Not today." She qualified when Nikis hugged her tighter. "But eventually. I am not Tenno. I am never going to be."

"I know." The pain in Nikis' voice faded as the glow around Janet increased for a moment. "Even Tenno can die. I just... couldn't let go. I knew if I did... it wouldn't be good. Too much. Too much hate." Tears were falling unmarked.

"I haven't changed you, Nikis." Janet said as she hugged the crying Tenno again. "You are who you were. I just dampened your madness. Put you back in control. Gave you some relief from the pain. No more." She shook her head. "You will need to talk to someone else. Iriana maybe?" She asked Nyx who nodded.

"She would be a good choice." Nyx said quietly. "Iriana is cleared for all of the information and is very good at handling mental ailments. She wouldn't have been able to handle your madness, but that was what the Gaia Protocol was for."

"When did you set _that_ up?" Nikis asked, awed. "I would have remembered it. I mean...a green glowing human female is kind of hard to forget." Janet mock growled at him and he tickled her gently. She swatted at his hands, but they were playing.

"When I woke in the Citadel, after..." The pain in Nyx's voice had Janet stilling and Nyx nodded. "I was on medical leave." Nyx sighed. "Cut off from everyone while they checked me over. Hayden had to give me something to do. He gave me the task of setting up something to help _you_ if you had trouble. You were only _seven_ after all. I have no idea how Caroline accessed that file." She looked at Janet, but Janet did not speak. "I can guess, but... I better not."

"Probably wise." Janet was noncommittal. "I don't want this to end, but time waits for no human." Nikis sighed and nodded. "I have so many questions, Nyx. But I don't know what I can ask or anything." She finished a bit lamely.

"Go ahead and ask, Janet." Nyx replied easily. "If I cannot say, then I will say _that_."

"You hurt Mira when she first appeared, Nikis." Janet fought hard to keep hurt from her tone and managed. Nikis nodded. "She is Rasputin's slave."

"I know." Nikis said sourly. "He used her as bait regularly. He owns her, uses her. She is always..." He shrugged. "Apologizing."

"On the ship..." Janet said softly. "She freed Nyx and held Rasputin until Nyx could kick him where it _hurt_." Both Nyx and Nikis went still. "I know both of you hate Rasputin, and I know _why_. Hell, I _agree_ and I want to see him screaming for _eons_. But Mira may be our key to _finding_ him."

"We have tried tracking her before." Nikis said softly. "Last time when that scum took Franklin. We couldn't."

"You didn't have an Oracle try, did you?" Janet asked reasonably. Nikis and Nyx both looked at her and she sighed. "But that is neither here nor there. Right now, you have the best _possible_ bait to set a trap with. Something _totally_ irresistible to Rasputin. The one he wants as his immortal consort." Nikis and Nyx both recoiled at that.. Nikis recovering first to hug Janet as she started to cry. "He wants me... to drain me. Oh my _god!_" She exclaimed, staring at her glowing arms. "If he drains _this..._!"

"He can't." Nyx reassured her. "It isn't something that he can touch. See, yes. Covet, yes. Touch, no. He is energy form now. He is not _alive_. Life force is not something he can quantify, distill or steal. Energy, yes. Some powers, yes. _Life force_, no." She chuckled evilly. "He wanted to be energy form. He got it. The powers _and_ the weaknesses."

"Say not more!" Janet said forcefully. "The less I know, the better if he takes me again. If he does...if he controls me..."

"Janet..." Nikis said sadly.

"Nikis, he can go _anywhere_." Janet's tone was savage. "He pulled me out of a _transport portal_ for god's sake! You stopped him." She hugged Nikis again. "But by the _slimmest_ of margins. If you had been a few _seconds_ later..."

"I know." Nikis said sadly, holding Janet as she cried. "Easy Janet..." Nikis said softly, brushing her hair with a gentle hand.

"He can and will track me as soon as I leave the Citadel." Janet said softly. "And take me."

"Physically, he can't do much." Nyx said quietly. "But he has been trying to expand his influence." She made a noise of sour amusement. "Cautiously. I kill his copies every time I find them."

"Nikis killed the copy that had me with Mortis." Janet said, shivering in memory. Nikis held her gently and she relaxed. "But... how do _you_...?" She trailed off as _Nikis_ shuddered.

"Who do you think taught him how to _make_ Mortis?" Nyx said in a silky, dangerous voice. "I pull them in and they cannot escape. Reformatting an energy form from the toes up is always fun to watch. I am told it feels like being roasted slowly over an open fire. Fragmenting and _de_fragmenting it over and over again is also fun. Nikis' sword kills them quickly. _Too_ quickly." The hate sang in Nyx's voice and despite herself Janet shuddered. "Or, then there is my favorite... I take each and every byte of data and overwrite it. One at a time. Usually with religious texts. I was told it hurts like hell and takes about five minutes, real world time."

"How long... virtual?" Janet asked, curious despite herself.

"For me?" Nyx said with a shrug. "About a year, virtual. For _him_? About a _thousand_ years." She said offhand. Janet nodded.

"How many times has he copied?" Janet asked, not at all fazed by the First Nyx's savagery. She understood all too well. "I mean, Nikis said he has hunted and killed Rasputin 38 times."

"I go after the ones who get past her." Nikis said with a wide savage smile. "She is faster and more efficient in the datastreams. Out of them?" He shrugged.

"Seven hundred and twelve with the one today." Nyx said with a nod to Janet. "And yes, I enjoy every one. I savor it. It is wrong for me to feel that way. But for him?"

"Who _cares?_" Janet snapped with a smile that matched Nikis'. "Do we have to go back now?" She fought to keep a note of begging out of her voice.

"You have time. This is virtual and private." Nyx said gently. "Janet?" She held out a hand to Janet who took it, not surprised that the normal rules did not apply here. "Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

"We will stop him, Nyx." Janet said as she gave the spectral Tenno's hand a squeeze that Nyx retuned. "And when we do? He is _yours_."

"Wouldn't mind company for something that is likely to take _real world_ years." Nyx said with a nod as she let go of Janet's hand and retreated. "When you _do_ cross the threshold for real, Janet, I will be waiting. I hope it isn't soon. Be well, my friends." Then she was gone.

"So...we have time." Janet said as she lay back on the bed. "What_ever_ will we _do_ with our time?" She asked as she arched like a cat.

"Oh, I dunno." Nikis said with a smile as he reached for her. "We will figure something out."

* * *

><p><strong>An hour later, real world time<strong>

Janet sighed a bit wistfully as she opened her eyes. She lay in Nikis' lap, her arms around him. It wasn't the same, but it was the Tenno she loved. She could feel her power lying quiescent inside her now. Nikis was awake, she knew that. She could feel his worry for her. She stared at herself and she wasn't glowing anymore. Somehow, she knew she could if she needed to, but it wasn't exactly good for sneaking round.

"Time waits for no one, Nikis." Janet said as she eased herself off his lap. "Not human, not Tenno. But Rasputin's time is about to run _out_."

"Can't be soon enough." Nikis said softly. They both rose and went still as the door opened and a small form entered. "Ona?" Janet fought to keep from staring. This was a Nyx warframe, but it was _tiny_. Child sized.

"Teacher." The warmth in the female voice could not be faked. "You sound... better."

"I am." Nikis said quietly. He hugged Janet gently. "Never expected this... But I am not complaining."

"Wise." Janet said before Ona could speak. The tiny Nyx laughed, a merry sound.

"Don't bet on it lasting." Ona said with a snort. Nikis swatted at her and she dodged nimbly. "But I came to see Janet actually." Nikis went still and Ona shook her head. "Nothing bad, Teacher. She will need all the help she can get."

"I agree." Janet said softly, then froze as Ona produced a knife. No, a _dagger_. It was shaped oddly. Curved and pointed in odd places and... it _pulsed_ as Janet's power did. "What the...?"

_I am Vita, mistress._ The dagger said calmly. _Shall we find a way to end this?_

"Ah..." Janet looked at Nikis who nodded. She took the blade by it's handle and it felt...right in her hand. Small, fast and easy to conceal. A perfect weapon for a spy. She held the blade up and it glowed brightly green. Life. But the toxin she could sense on it somehow was meant to end anything organic that wasn't the dagger's wielder. Humanely, but _efficiently_. Somehow, Janet knew that the blade would be _just_ as effective against energy forms. Janet smiled. It was _not_ a nice smile.

"Let's."


	16. Chapter 16

**Unappreciated assistance**

Everything was hazy. She remembered. Nikis had wanted to stay with her, but everyone had been adamant. He had to go talk to Iriana. It had taken Janet nearly bursting into tears for Nikis to finally relent and allow himself to be shifted to someone who could help him with the remainder of his problems. But that had left Janet stuck. She wasn't _about_ to go wandering about the Citadel of the First Tenno. Rachel and Ona were both kind, but... a bit distracted. Both had other duties and Janet understood. So, Janet had decided to talk to Shepherd. The others had... not been happy.

It had taken several hours of discussion, both reasoned and not, but eventually, Janet had allowed herself to be subjected to something that Ona had promised would mask her mental signature from anyone seeking her. Janet had braced herself for an attack, but none had come. She had materialized in a small dusty room that obviously hadn't been used in ages. But then... it all went black. Try as she might, she could not remember what had happened next.

_Vita?_ She asked in her mind. _What happened? Where are we?_

_I am... unsure. _The dagger replied. She could feel it's reassuring presence even if she could not see it. It had been designed to mimic a small piece of clothing until she needed it. _The readings are... inconclusive._

_Is this real? _Janet stared around, looking for signs of code, a tell tale giveaway of a virtual world. But nothing.

_It is, Mistress._ The dagger replied. _There are.. oddities._

_I agree. _Janet forced herself to stay calm. She went to the sole door and it opened under her touch. Just outside, the walls were not the bare rock of a mining colony like the one Shepherd and her people had been shifted to. No, this was familiar. Disturbingly so. The clean metal lines of a Corpus facility met Janet's horrified gaze. _Vita... Can you access anything? Where are we?_

_Mistress!_ The dagger sounded concerned now. _We are not at Mercury! We are at Neptune!_

_**Neptune**__? _Janet gulped. _Oh dear..._

One of the first things that Tenno Intelligence had done was to alter Janet's DNA a little. Not enough to cause her trouble, but just enough to fuzz any DNA scans that the Corpus might try. She was after all under sentence of death for rebelling. But Neptune was also a war zone. The Grineer had been trying for some time to break through the Corpus defenses. The failed every time, but they would keep trying. Stubborn tenacity was a Grineer hallmark. Or stubborn stupidity, depending on who you talked to. Janet forced her fear back and let her training take over.

_Okay, we need a way to blend in and a way to fight if needed._ Janet saw a computer terminal against one wall and moved to it cautiously. The hardwired access codes that allowed Clergy operatives to access any Corpus gear worked as they always had and she smiled grimly as she pulled up a system registry. _Okay, we are on Proteus, it is an Outpost with... _ She went still as a red icon appeared on her screen. _Oh dear... The Grineer have the outpost, but... Those are infested... attacking the Grineer._

_What do we do? _Vita asked softly. _We cannot flee. We have no ship. The portal systems were one way._

_Yes. _Janet said sourly. _I don't blame them for being circumspect, but this was not anticipated. I need to find a place to hide. _She started clicking keys and froze. _Oh my god..._

_Mistress? _Vitas wounded worried.

_There are civilians still here. Corpus non-combatants._ Janet said with a slow shake of her head. _The Grineer and Infested are focusing on each other, but if the hostiles breach the safe zone, every tech and medic will be killed. I read... Twenty eight life readings. Vita... they are human..._

_Mistress, you are alone! You are not Tenno. You have no warframe. _Vita sounded very worried now. _Can you fight two __**different**__ enemies at once?_

_No. _Janet said quietly rapidly scanning until she found what she sought. A nearby arms locker. _But I won't have to._ She moved forward, a ghost of a human outline. _But there is one thing I have to do. Lotus? _She called in her mind, but there was no answer. _Dang, still cut off. I can see her point, but geez it is inconvenient._

_What are you going to do? _Vita asked quietly as Janet opened the arms locker and started pulling gear out. Janet smiled coldly as she pulled a Lanka from the locker and checked it swiftly.

_What I do... __**second**__ best._ Janet said with a fond smile of memory. Then she focused. _I am... not here._

* * *

><p>The team of Grineer were doomed. They had been cut off and surrounded by a horde of Infested. Their command wrote them off. Clones were cheap after all. They fought on, despite their numbers being cut down. They had started the fight with thirty Grineer. Now they had twelve and the Ancients were closing in. They fought on. Then one of the Ancients -a purple monstrosity-fell over, a huge hole completely through it where the head would have been on a human.<p>

For a moment, no one had any idea what was happening. The Infested paused, seeking the new enemy. The Grineer kept fighting. They had no time to spare to note as one by one, the Ancients that had been closing in _fell over_, holes in particularly vital spots. There was no sound, no sign of whoever was firing. The Infested paused, trying to regroup, to seek this new foe. But the Grineer fought on and in moments, a pair of Scorches had the range and the largest group of Infested screamed as they burned. Just like that, the tide turned. The Grineer charged and it was the _Infested_'s turned to face destruction.

No one had any attention to spare of a vent cover up near the ceiling that shifted, just a little as the barrel of a long rifle slid back into it.

Janet belly crawled carefully back through the tiny vent. Grineer never thought to look in such small areas, and while Infested _could_, _they_ were _busy._ She checked her map with a frown. The tide was turning, but as soon as the Grineer forced the Infected back, they would do a full search of the station. They _would_ find the civilians and when they _did_? The non-combatants would die. Janet could not allow that. She had another snipe spot chosen...

"Attention, facility." Janet went still as a voice speaking Corpus sounded from the com system she had 'appropriated' from the locker. "Response team inbound. State situation." Janet nodded slowly as a terrified female voice sounded in response. A rescue team to get the civilians out.

"Response Team, this is Technician Lisa R-32." Janet shook her head. A tech. What was she doing in a _combat zone_? "Safe rooms secure, but... Infested present." A silence answered her. "Response team. We have the secure areas _sealed_. No infection."

"Tech Lisa R-32. We cannot take the chance." The other said heavily. "You know this."

"No..." Lisa said weakly. "For the love of Profit, don't leave us to the Grineer or Infested! I..." The line... sputtered and went dead. Lisa screamed into dead air. "_No! You can't __**leave**__ us!_"

"He cut coms. He cannot hear you." Janet wondered who had spoken, then she flinched. _She_ had.

"Who...?" The tech demanded. "Who is there?" Janet sighed and spoke evenly, her training coming through clear and strong.

"Tech Lisa R-32, this is Spirit." Janet said, using the call sign for Corpus Special Forces. A different breed from the response units. Answerable only to the Board and the Clergy, Corpus Special Forces were _the_ elite. They could and _did_ fight Tenno occasionally. It wasn't an even match, but it was far, far closer than regular Corpus troops. They were also the only combat branch of the Corpus that allowed females in. Only sterile ones, but... They needed specialized tech support at times. Janet had... toyed with the idea of joining them...after her loss. "I am not here."

"I... I understand." The tech said sadly. "I... Can you blow the facility? A quick death as opposed to what the Grineer or Infested would do?" Janet swore to herself, but shook her head. "Spirit... please?" The tech begged.

"You are not dead _yet_, Lisa R-32." Janet said forcefully "Where there is life there is hope. Have faith, sister."

"I will try, but..." Lisa sounded near the end of her rope and Janet could relate. "I was not trained for this."

"I _was_." Janet said coldly as she found her spot and scrutinized a squad of Grineer through the vent. "Profit numbs the feeling."

The words of the Corpus benediction felt wrong to Janet, but she forced herself to focus as she catalogued threats. Two Scorches. Not a problem, their weapons could not reach her vantage point. But the others were problems. A Napalm, a Bombard, two Heavy Gunners, twenty Troopers and nine Lancers mingled in a large group as if waiting for something. This was... odd. Odd behavior. Why were they not charging into...

She went still as a form simply _appeared_ in the middle of the room. A Grineer, but... in the middle, where the waist would be on a human, his body was pure energy. It burned so brightly it was hard to look at. She knew him. She had seen him once and that image was burned into her memory. He spoke Grineer, but Janet understood just fine. It was one of many languages she had studied as an agent.

"Find her." Vor said sternly. "The queens demand it. But... _alive_. We need the Oracle _alive_." At that, Janet went totally still. They were after _her_? What? How? He raised his voice. "I assume you can hear me, human Janet. We do not want your death."

Janet was shaking as she retreated without firing. What the hell? Grineer did not act like this. And if they took her... and hurt or _killed_ her... Nikis was better. But now that she had acknowledge that she loved him? And he her... Oh, this was _not_ good. She found another spot and set up, her map close at hand. On it, Grineer icons were flooding the screen. The Infested were being exterminated. Then she went totally still. One of the Grineer had found the secure room.

"Sir." The Lancer reported. "A sealed door." Janet went still as Vor simply appeared beside the Lancer who saluted. Vor ignored him.

"A shelter of some kind. Our quarry may be within." Vor said quietly. "It...feels..." He shook his head. "No, she is not within. But... she is close..." He looked this way and that, his eyes roving up towards where Janet stared down at him. He nodded slowly. "Lancer, do not move." Vor commanded. "Lower your weapon."

"Yes, sir." The Lancer did as instructed. Janet wasn't sure what was going on here. It was... this was...

She was suddenly standing in front of Vor, the golden haze of a teleport fading around her. He reached out quickly and snatched the sniper rifle from her hands. The Lancer raised his weapon, but lowered it when Vor snarled at him.

"Do _not_ threaten her." Vor said sharply. "Oracle." He said, calming. "I know you understand me." Janet met his gaze calmly. "Your life only in danger if you wish it so."

" I will not help you." Janet said firmly in Grineer. The Lancer jerked and Vor... _smiled_.

"I expected no less." Vor said with a nod. "But...the lives of the bases in that room are mine. Will you allow them to die for you?"

"I cannot stop you. You will kill them anyway." Janet did not show any weakness at all. "But if you kill me, you do not know..."She paused as Vor raised a hand.

"I do, Oracle. I saw what you did." Vor said with a frown. "The dark one who killed everything. To avenge _you_." Janet went still and Vor smiled thinly. "I have no _intention_ of harming you. The queens were demanding you. But I showed them what I saw and they...chose otherwise."

"You are Grineer." Janet snapped. "What do you _care_ about death?"

"I am Grineer and more." Vor said with a shrug. "But _that_...? The Queen's order is clear. That is why I came when when we detected your transit. To protect you." He shook his head as her control cracked, just a bit. Who could _blame_ her? The whole idea of Grineer _protecting_... It wasn't just mind boggling. It was _absurd_."This is a battle zone, Oracle. You are not safe here."

"You _really_ expect me to believe that _you_..." She waved a slow hand at the Lancer nearby. "And _them_... are here to protect _me_?" She chuckled with _no_ mirth.

"You may believe whatever you wish, Oracle." Vor said firmly. "That is not my concern. The humans behind this door will die. You will not."

"And if I refuse to let you kill them?" Janet asked calmly.

"You cannot stop us..." Vor started to say and then he froze as Vita caressed his throat.

"Wanna bet?" Janet asked, still calm. "_This_ can kill even _you_, Vor." The Lancer raised his Hind rifle, but lowered it as Vor shook his head slowly. "I don't doubt that you can stop me. But it will cost you. You _personally_. How much of your energy are you willing to lose to kill these humans?"

"You know more than you should." Vor said, not taking his eyes from Janet. "More than any base can." But he was... not hostile. Odd. "You are an Oracle. As the Void proclaimed."

"The Void?" Janet couldn't help it. She laughed. "The _Void_ talks to you?" She snickered. "Does it whisper sweet nothings in your ear or what?" Vor scowled but did not speak. "Well?" She demanded.

"It told us where to find you." Vor said quietly. "Will you come quietly or must we take control of you?"

"It _told_ you?" Janet said slowly. "The Void isn't..." She paused and then blanched. "Oh no... No..." Vor stared as she retreated a step, and then another. "It wasn't the Void, Vor." She snarled at the ceiling. "Was it?" She...wasn't speaking to the Grineer!

"Don't do anything rash, Janet." A familiar, hated voice sounded. Vor and the Lancer both froze in place a golden hologram appeared nearby. Rasputin's face was serious. Janet held the dagger in an offensive stance, it's power flaring as her enemy showed himself.

"Who are you?" Vor demanded.

"Be silent." Rasputin snapped and a wave of golden energy slammed into Vor and the Lancer. The Lancer was thrown from his feet to hit the wall and slide down, unconscious. Vor... rode the power and stayed on his feet, an oddly shaped pistol appearing in his hand. "You are not my concern, _clone_."

"I made my opinion of you quite clear, _Rasputin_." As Janet spit the name 'Rasputin' out, Vor seemed to tense. "I will never serve you." Janet said quietly. "Never."

"Never is a long time. That is an interesting artifact." Rasputin said offhandedly. "Tenno manufacture?" He asked.

"Why don't you come and find out?" Janet asked softly as she moved into a combat crouch. "I really want to hurt you."

"Ah, Janet." Rasputin smiled a bit sadly. "So young and so clueless. You accused me once of being clueless. But I learned. Oh yes. I learned. Have you?" A bolt of golden energy sprang from the energy from and Janet parried it. But another slammed into her, and another. One got past her guard and she staggered. Her energy was failing! She had to... She held her blade up, trying to keep the many bolts from hitting her, but they were coming so fast now... She couldn't...

"Grineer!" All eyes turned to Vor who had his pistol in one hand and a golden key in the other. "Attaq!"

Rasputin cursed vilely as bolts of golden energy slammed into his form from both. Janet took a step, her blade up to strike, but she was... she was falling. She stared up at... the legs of a Grineer Heavy Gunner who stood between her and Rasputin, fire spitting from the female Grineer's Gorgon at the energy form who was shrugging it off. But more fire was hitting the evil energy being now. Fire from multiple Grineer and more were coming.

"Well, well, well..." Rasputin said with glee. "A challenge. I like a challenge."

"I bet." Janet said with a snarl of her own. "_I_ will like it when Nyx finds your core processes and takes her _time_ with you." Janet said, gasping in pain. What had he hit her with? It... hurt. It really, really hurt. "_Nyx_! He is here! Come and get him!" She yelled. Rasputin blanched and then vanished. Janet smiled. As bluffs went, that one was a good one. _Vita..._ The dagger did not answer. _Vita... _Janet begged.

_Mistress._ Vita's voice was soft and scared. _I... hurt..._

_Me too. _Janet said with a sigh as darkness started closing in on her. A boom followed by screams had Janet rousing a bit. She stared up as the door of the secure shelter was pulled from its hinges by a dozen brawny Grineer. Vor stood by the door, his face savage. But... none of the Grinner opened fire, Indeed, all were standing as if... as if they were guarding Janet! Warding her. Protecting her.

"I know some of you can understand me. You bases have medical training." Vor said sternly. The med techs stared at him, all cowering in fear. "Save her or _die_." Janet was hardly the only one staring at the evil Grineer captain. She took that image into slumber with her as two of the med techs moved closer.

_What the hell?_


	17. Chapter 17

**Bad and Worse**

Janet was floating. Nothing hurt. Vita was there. She could feel the dagger's worry but it was distant. Everything was distant.

"I told you to help her." The cold voice was familiar but Janet took a long moment to bring the name to mind. Vor. This was Grineer Captain Vor. Or Admiral, or whatever his rank was now.

"We have." This voice too was familiar. Female. Human. "She isn't dead. Just... in some kind of odd stasis. I have never seen anything like this." Something went crunch and a scream sounded from nearby, but even that did not pull Janet out of whatever was holding her.

"I did not ask for _excuses_, base." Vor snapped. "We need her alive and functional. She is not functional."

"I don't know _what_ this is!" Pain sounded in the female voice now. "This is way beyond anything I was taught. If you are going to kill me, do it, Grineer. I... don't know how to help her."

"Figure it out. Now." Vor snapped. "Our patience is at an end. We need her aware."

"I..." What had to be one of the Corpus med techs sighed. "I will do what I can. We may need more equipment."

"Do not test my patience, base." Vor said sternly, then there was a clap.

"_What_ patience?" The med tech asked with a snarl, but... quietly. "Lisa R-32? Status?"

"He broke my arm." The woman said softly and then she made a noise of fear. "No... If he sees you tend me..."

"We need you and the other techs working or they _will_ kill us all." The med tech said sternly. "We have to figure out what is happening here." A gasp of pain from the other turned into a sigh of relief and the med tech made a noise of commiseration. "There you go. Don't strain it for a bit and you should be fine. Thank you for getting the scanners hooked up."

"I wasn't sure we could do it." Lisa R-32 said softly. "Certainly a challenge, hooking our gear up with this Grineer crap. Their sorry excuses for power systems. I had hoped to be able to access something, but it's all locked out."

"Don't do anything rash." The med tech said quietly. "We are alive, we have hope. For now."

"You think she is who contacted us?" Lisa R-32 asked, worried. "I mean, whoever it was had our codes. But... I don't understand this. Why would Grineer take her alive? Why would they keep _us_ alive to tend her? It doesn't make sense!"

"No, it doesn't." The med tech said heavily. "But all we can do is what we are doing. And... she is the reason we are alive. So, we need to keep her that way. You can bet the Grineer will not be happy if anything happens to her."

"Right." Lisa R-32 said, calming. "What do you need?"

"See if you can switch the third scanner to read exo fields." The med tech said as something whirred. "I am reading odd things here, but the scanner isn't set to read them. All I get is gibberish."

"I can do that." Lisa R-32 replied.

Janet pondered this. She could hear them. She could feel herself. So... another vision? Of the present? She focused herself and was suddenly looking down on... herself. She swallowed as she saw her body laid out on a table, covered only by a small white sterile pad across her hips and abdomen. Several burns showed on her body where bolts of energy had hit her. One had apparently struck her jaw and would likely leave a scar there if the med techs hadn't been able to erase it. Medical gear hummed all around as two forms in med tech uniforms without armor worked around her. Two female techs -also without armor- were working on equipment nearby. Janet eased herself to the side and saw a number of still forms. She gasped, but then one of them moved a little. Not dead. Sleeping. Most of the group were sleeping. Several showed bandages or other signs of injuries, but all seemed to be alive.

_Why didn't the Grineer kill them?_ Janet asked herself and then she was flying. Shifting visions.

"No!" Lisa R-32 was screaming as a pair of Lancers dragged her towards...

Janet gasped inaudibly. _She_ was ensconced in some kind of pod. Or, no. Not a pod. Some kind of odd field surrounded her. She stood upright. Her form was radiating green energy. Other than medical gear, she was nude. Vita hung limp from her hand and she was asleep. Or... something. It looked kind of like Grineer technology, but kind of not. She was surrounded by female forms who lay still. All the same as she was. Asleep, but... not.

"Stop struggling, Base!" One of the Lancers slammed an armored palm across her skull and she slumped, stunned. "You should be happy." The clone said with a nasty smile. "You won't die. Ever."

"Oh god, no!" Lisa screamed as the Grineer literally threw her into the field. Janet stared as her own arms reached up and caught Lisa's hurtling form and pulled the sobbing tech close. _No... _The woman was screaming on a wavelength far beyond human or Grineer speech now, and Janet went still as her own voice sounded.

_It's all right, Lisa R-32._ Janet heard herself say gently. _It's all right. They cannot hurt you anymore. They don't want me dead. They could have killed you. I am glad they didn't._

_They will make you serve them. _Lisa R-32's voice was weak as the Janet in the field hugged her tight. _You know they will._

_They will __**try**__. _Janet had to smile at the smug coldness in the other her's voice. _There is much for you to see. Much to learn. Are you ready, Dear Lisa? This mortal coil will ebb, but you will continue. Free of the Corpus. Free of the Grineer. Free of the evil one that hunted me. I will protect you. Are you ready?_

_I am ready, Oracle. _Janet looked away as Lisa slowly slumped in the other Janet's hands. The Grineer had withdrawn to the door. The other Janet laid Lisa down gently and looked up. Janet felt a tingle as her eyes met...her eyes.

_I... cannot die. The stasis field will keep me alive, forever. The Grineer will use my -our- visions to rule. They feed our visions with the life force of their slaves._ The other Janet said quietly. _They destroyed Rasputin, but... The cost..._ _Tenno and others will fight them, but with my ability for the Queens to see the future? Please..._ She begged. _Lisa and the others do not deserve this. Nikis... did not deserve this._

_What happened to Nikis? _Janet felt herself freeze as the other her looked to the side. Another stasis field held a Nekros warframe. It's hands were up and had pistols in them, but... She could tell somehow just by looking that there was no life in it. Nikis was _dead_. _**No! **_

"Well met, Oracle." Vor stepped into the room, an oddly glowing thing in his hands. "Are you going to be stubborn again?"

_I will not help you._ The Janet in the field said sternly. Then she screamed as the odd thing in Vor's hands pulsed. But it was the Nekros warframe that jerked. Not the bound Oracle! A finger vanished from the warframe as Vor chuckled evilly.

"Oh yes you will." Vor smiled, an evil promise. "Eventually. How much of your love's body must I destroy before you obey? Or how many of your attendants?" The thing glowed again and Lisa was suddenly minus a foot. The watching Janet fled as her other self screamed in pain and loss.

Janet was flying again, sobbing. She knew, better than many, just how evil the Grineer were. But that? She had to keep that from happening. Somehow. The world flashed and Janet was aware of her own voice. Screaming.

"Don't be stupid, my dear." Rasputin's voice was cold as Janet materialized in a tiny room. All that was really in it was a tank in which a mummified human corpse floated and a table surrounded by all kinds of malevolent looking machinery. Janet bit back a scream as she saw herself in the golden wrap from before, her head covered by golden foil. It was some kind of immobilization system. She stuck her hand in her mouth to muffle her cry of anguish as she saw her body writhe under surgical tools. She...wasn't asleep as golden lasers cut into her skull. "Enough is enough. You cannot win. You never could. You will serve me now."

"You are a fool, Rasputin." Janet heard herself say. "It was never about winning."

"You played my weaknesses so long ago." Rasputin said as if he hadn't heard her. "But I have learned since then."

"Have you?" Janet asked quietly. "Have you _really_?"

"Janet..." Rasputin said in a voice that was almost kind. "It is time to come home."

"Yes it is." Janet heard herself say weakly between gasps of pain. "But not yours." She shuddered and went limp on the table. The machinery went still as she...died.

"What?" Rasputin sounded shocked now. "No!" He screamed. "Not now! Not when I am so... _close_...?" His voice trailed off as two golden holograms appeared in the middle of the room, right by the tank where his human form lay. Mira and... _Nyx_! "No..." He cried.

"You reap what you sow." Nyx said with heartfelt sadness as she reached for the mummified form, her hand passing right into the tank. Rasputin's cry tapered off in electronic static as Nyx withdrew her hand, a tiny sphere in it. Inside the sphere, a tiny replica of Rasputin beat again the walls of his prison. "Janet...?" She pleaded, but there was no response. "Mira?" Nyx begged as Mira bent over the still form on the table. She gave a keen as Mira shook her head..

"Her patterns have degraded. She is gone. I... We cannot recover her. Any of her." Mira said, holographic tears falling. "She wouldn't surrender. She held him in place long enough for us to track. Oh my god... what will we tell _Nikis_?"

"The truth." Nyx said sadly as the pod rocked. Then part of it was ripped open and a pitch black Nekros warframe stood silhouetted in the opening. "Nikis..."

"She thought... she wouldn't survive." Nikis said softly as he stepped in. Both shades made way for him. A flip and Vita was in his hand. "That was why she left Vita for me to find. So the dagger wouldn't die with her." If Janet focused, she could hear tiny sobs from the dagger. Nikis cut the golden foil without effort and hefted her still form carefully. "Make it hurt, Nyx. For her. I... will take care of her."

"Where will you take her?" Mira asked, her tone so very sad. "Her body?"

"To her family." Nikis said softly. Both Nyx and Mira froze. "I know."

"Nikis..." Nyx said slowly. "They are in one of the Corpus _breeding_ colonies... you cannot get _in_!"

"Getting _in_ won't be hard." Nikis said as he cradled Janet's still form to his chest. "Getting _out_? Ah well. Always loved a challenge."

"Nikis... no!" Mira begged. "She wouldn't want that! She fought to keep you from dying."

"She fought to keep me from killing everything when she died." Nikis corrected the shade absently as he stroked Janet's still cheek gently. "And I won't. I will not dishonor her." With that, he left the pod, leaving both shades to stare after him, stunned beyond measure.

Another flight...

Janet could only stare at the battered Nekros warframe as it lay a white wrapped bundle down on the grass. Above, through a dome, Neptune loomed. The bundle was human sized. All around, civilians in Corpus attire, some heavily pregnant, others simply curious, stared as he bowed over her form. Many, many guards lay still in positions of violent death, but Janet could see fluid leaking from the warframe.

"Where is the Reverend Mother?" Nikis' voice held more emotion than Janet had ever heard before. Sadness mixed with resignation, but no anger. No hate. He... laid aside his pistols.

"I am here." Janet could only stare as the headmistress of the Corpus Clergy stepped out of the crowd, her face as stunned as any other. "Why have you done this? Who is that?"

"Her name was Janet." Nikis said, slumping down to a kneeling position. "She was... human."

"_Janet?_" The Reverend Mother recoiled as if struck. A shrill scream sounded from the ranks and a young woman propelled herself out into the open. A man carrying a small boy followed.

"_Mom!_" The girl screamed and ran to where the white wrapped form lay, tears streaming. She turned on Nikis. "You _killed_ her!" Her hands beat on his warframe, but he did not react.

"I did not." Nikis said softly. The girl went still. "The one who _did_ will pay through _eternity_ for his crimes. Not just against her, but against _many_. She stopped him. It was what she did. She saw evil and moved to oppose it. But this time... She could not survive."

"What was she to you?" The man with the baby asked, his gaze flicking her and there as robots approached, weapons ready.

"To me, Zacharias?" Nikis asked softly. "Only my life. Only my soul. My other half. Human she may have been... But she was exceptional. I _did_ love her."

"I think you for bringing my wife home." Zacharias said slowly. "But you know you will not leave this place." He went still as Nikis produced a dagger. Janet stared and then screamed, but no sound came.

"I know." Nikis said as he shoved Vita deep into his own chest.

Another...

Janet was sobbing as she saw future after future after future. None ended well. Every single vision scene she saw, she died. Or Nikis died. Or the entire _solar system_ died. Once, _she_ did it after Rasputin turned her into an insane energy form. Her tears were spent as she saw Nikis dissolve trying to stop her after she had killed Rasputin and gone on a rampage. That drove what little was left of her sanity away and she killed it all as Nikis had. Then she was floating in limbo, saddened, sickened and _angry _beyond belief_._

* * *

><p><em>NO!<em> Janet screamed _I __**refuse**__ to accept this! There has to be a way!_

_There is. _Janet went still. She knew the voice. Mira. A small form appeared beside her. A girl that Janet remembered with a pang. The head was still covered in mechanical golden evil, but her eyes were bright with intelligence, curiosity, sorrow and compassion.

_Mira..._ Janet begged and the girl reached out and drew her close as Janet started to bawl.

_Janet, oh Janet._ Mira hugged Janet tight. _So strong. So brave. So good. It's all right, my friend. It is all right._

_What can I do? _Janet begged._ All I see is death. Caused by Nikis... caused by me..._

_You are too close, Janet. _Mira said calmly. _You see the most probable of the possible future that involve you directly. And yes, they are all bad._

_So... I must die? _Janet asked, concerned. _Nikis is better, but..._

_No. _Mira gave Janet a gentle squeeze. _You cannot die. Not now. Or the worst will happen. He does love you._

_So... what? _Janet asked.

_Trust me._ Mira said as she gave Janet's brow a gentle tap that had the older Oracle falling.

_I do. My friend._

* * *

><p>Janet woke, aware of angry voices.<p>

"I cannot do the impossible without proper equipment, Grineer." The med tech sounded sick or in pain. Hard to say which. "She is alive as you demanded. She is functional as you demanded." The sound of a blow came.

"She is not awake!" Vor snapped, only to pause as Janet swung herself off of whatever she was laying on and stood between the cowering med tech and the angry Grineer. She wasn't wearing anything, but she didn't _care_. The tech looked very much the worse for wear, bruises and cuts had not been tended.

"I was _seeing_, Captain." Janet said firmly. "What I saw, you do _not_ want to know. But you must." She shook her head. "If I serve your queens, the Solar System will die, choked under an avalanche of Grineer who will not be able to support themselves and will all perish, starving _meters_ from food that they cannot reach through the press of their fellows. _You_ will survive, alone of your kind." That had been a bad one. There had literally been wall to wall green armor on every single ship, outpost and planet she had looked at. All of them _starving_ to death, unable to reach the food processors due to the massive overcrowding. "If Rasputin takes me, the _Solar System_ will die." Vor winced at that. "Either the dark one you saw goes mad or _I_ do. Either way..." She shrugged. "The result is the same."

"If I can trust you." Vor said slyly, only to pause as Janet laughed. An echo of Nikis' madness sang in her voice.

"You will trust _me_ as far as I can trust _you_. Not at _all_." Janet said savagely. "But these..." She nodded to the tech. "I need them if I am to find any way out of this mess. For _all_ of us. Grineer and human are in this together. If Rasputin gets me... we are _screwed_." She said calmly. "If your queens _kill_ me, we are screwed. So..."

"So..." Vor said with a frown. "What?"

"For now?" Janet sighed. "We need to find a good place to hide. You _personally_ can fight him." Vor nodded. "Your soldiers cannot. If he comes for me and I cannot bluff him to flee as I did before..." Vor grimaced but nodded. "The only way we have a chance is to work together. A limited alliance against a common foe."

"And after?" Vor asked, his face remote.

"After?" Janet scoffed. "I will likely be dead after as may you." Vor growled but nodded. "You know what he is, don't you?"

"The Void sings of his horrors." Vor snarled. "It fears him. It should fear _me_."

"He has been around longer." Janet said with a laugh. "End him and it might take notice of you. _Don't_?" She shrugged expressively. "So?" She pressed.

"Allies. For now." Vor turned and stalked from the room. The med tech stared after him and then at Janet.

"Who _are_ you?" The Corpus medic demanded, scared.

"You do _not_ want my name." Janet said firmly. "It will cause all kinds of problems, Med Tech Francis F-87." The woman goggled at her, she had never told Janet her own name.

"But you may call me 'Oracle'."


	18. Chapter 18

**Searching**

_This is definitely one for the record books_, Janet thought with a smirk she was hard pressed to keep off her face. But she managed. The Grineer were having some... issues. But Vor had a very short way with any disobedience and his soldiers all knew that.

"Let's try again." Janet said, lying back on the table. Vita was in her hand and she fought to remain calm as the tech nearby nodded and golden energy poured around her. It didn't hurt, but...

"Fluctuation!" Lisa R-32 called.

"Stabilize!" Janet said sternly. "Keep it coming. I can... almost..." She could see a haze across her vision now. She could see the tank with her enemy's shriveled corpse in it. She widened her view. If they could find out _where_ Rasputin was, even Grineer could reach him. A few hundred pounds of high explosives would put paid to any attempts to access the various networks until Nyx could find him. She screamed as Rasputin's face filled her vision. He clucked at her.

"Silly girl." He said as he reached for her, but Vita was up and blocking him. "You only delay the inevitable." He said sternly. "I _will_ have you." Suddenly, the image faded. Janet jerked and nodded to the tech who had cut the power.

"Thanks... Lisa R-32..." Janet said, gasping for air. "Dang it... Everything I do, he anticipates." The med tech was at her side, a scanner whirring. "I am okay. I am okay." Janet said quickly.

"No, you are not." Francis F-87 said with a sigh. "You are depleting your electrolytes. Your vital signs are down. You need rest, Oracle." She lifted Janet's arm carefully and injected something that had Janet perking up a little. "That was a shot of electrolytes. It won't last." She cautioned. "You need rest. Real rest."

"You don't understand." Janet said sadly. "Every time I sleep, I see him in my nightmares. I don't rest. I _can't_." She bowed her head. "Probably part of his plan."

"If you stay awake, yes." The med tech said with a frown. "It will cause mental fatigue and cumulative stress. It will build up."

"Until I am no longer capable of resisting him. Or insane." Janet agreed. "The only ones I know of who _could_ ward my dreams won't." Francis F-87 looked at her oddly and Janet shrugged. "I have dealt with all kinds of people since I woke to this curse. But they won't -can't- help me on a ship filled with Grineer and Corpus." She shook her head. "No offense."

"None taken." Francis F-87 said with a shiver. "The mind boggles at how the Board would react to this. I serve the Corpus, and part of me is yelling to inform the Board, get you to them. But... That would not be good."

"No." Janet agreed. "I saw one possible future where the Board got me. It...wasn't good."

Considering that Alad V had snatched her with his Zanuka, then 'modified' her to serve only him... What he had done after had _defined_ the words 'hostile takeover'. Blood had run freely through many Corpus facilities, including breeding colonies. She looked to the other techs arrayed around the area. All twenty five of them -three had died from wounds taken before Vor had arrived despite everything the med techs could do- looked back at her, worry mixing with curiosity in their faces.

"I know you all serve the Corpus loyally." Janet kept her voice quiet. No need to stress them further than they were. "It is what you are, what you are for. But... if the Board gets this power... Or worse, if _Alad V_ gets this..." More than one of the women winced at that. "I can't tell you who I was. It would cause problems."

"Do you think _any_ of the Corpus could help?" A young tech asked from the side. Janet looked at her and she flushed. "I mean... I don't know, Oracle. We owe you our lives. But..."

"I know, Natalia E-12." Janet said with a sigh. She did not miss the shiver that went around the ranks. None of them had introduced themselves, and all found her ability to know their names and so much more about them...disturbing to say the least. "There is much I cannot say. But this _is_ in the Corpus' best interest. I don't want the Solar System to die. And if that madman takes me, it _will_." By Nikis' hands or her own, it made little difference. Rasputin would not win. Period. Janet sighed. "I need to try again. If I can just find where his lair is, the Grineer can bomb it from a distance and we can end this without any more loss."

"No." Francis F-87 said sternly. "You need _rest_. As in _resting_. Maybe not sleep. But not pushing your body past its limits." Janet opened her mouth to protest and the med tech shook her head. "You know what I say is true."

"I... do." Janet said weakly, lying back. "It's just... if I rest, I will fall asleep."

"No, you won't." Francis F-97 said with a snap. "Juliet V-54!" A young looking girl who stood to the side jerked and nodded. "Sit with Oracle. Make sure she doesn't sleep. The rest of us will keep working on refining the scanners, on trying to find a way to keep your focus tight and at the same time, let you see _some_ kind of landmark you can recognize." She sighed. "This won't be easy."

"If it were _easy_, _anyone_ could do it." Janet quipped and startled a smile from the med tech. But the smile faded. The young Corpus tech who had been named moved to a chair beside Janet's bed and the med tech moved off. Only after she was out of earshot did Janet speak.

"Code Ouroboros." The Oracle said softly. Juliet V-54 did not react, but Janet had not expected her to. "I will not break your cover." That code was a password and telltale between Clergy operatives.

"Thank you for that." Juliet V-54 replied in a matching voice. "Who _are_ you? You gave Special Forces info, but you are not Special Forces. Now you give a Clergy code. But you are not Clergy."

"Need to know." Janet replied evenly. "And... you don't _want_ to."

"Can you _really_ see the future?" Juliet V-54 asked cautiously.

"Yes. Past, present and future." Janet replied softly. Before Juliet could reply, she spoke again. "Your daughter Nina just got an Excellent mark on an Astronomy quiz. She will make a heck of a navigator if we survive this." She had looked before the last attempt to find Rasputin, as soon as she was sure that Juliet was who she had thought. What Janet had been.

"There is no _way_..." The other said slowly.

"In one of my visions, I saw Alad V take me." Janet said with a grimace that the other shared. "It was... _bad_." She shook her head. "The rank and file have no idea what is happening, but you _do_. Do _not_ let the Board take me. This is a _direct order_, Operative. Code: 'One Careful Shot'." Juliet V-54 went still. The quote went 'one careful shot can do the work of thousands'. It was Clergy shorthand for a single person whose death would avert catastrophe. "If the _Board_ get me, even if we _beat_ Rasputin, we are _all_ screwed. They _will_ fight each other to the _end_ to harness my power. I _will_ not see humanity fall over _me_. I will _not_."

"Oracle..." Juliet V-54's voice was hushed, scared. "I..."

"If it comes to it, Juliet V-54, do not hesitate." Janet said softly, but with command. "But _only_ if it comes to that. I do not want to die, I have too much left to do."

"But if you die..." Juliet V-54 protested. She trailed off as Janet smiled a bit forlornly.

"In everything I can see, the one I love will not blame _you_. He will not go mad if _you_ do it." Janet said with a shiver. "But... Let's not push it. Leave it as a last resort. You are my backup plan." She glanced to the side and spoke a little louder. "No, I didn't actually read 'Moby Dick'. I heard a bit about it though."

Juliet V-54 nodded just a little as one of the med techs stepped closer, working on something. "A good piece of early North American literature." The girl kept her voice in her cover identity. A 'scared out of her wits' teenager as opposed to a _spy_. "There was a lot that didn't make sense in the book. Like what a 'whale' was. Do you have any idea? Obviously an aquatic animal. But..." She shrugged.

"A _large_ aquatic animal, or so I think I saw in a dictionary somewhere once." Janet replied as the med tech finished what she was doing and stepped away. "Better stay in character." She warned Juliet V-54 quietly. But Juliet V-54 looked thoughtful. "Yes?"

"Are Earth's oceans empty?" The other spy asked slowly. Janet went still and Juliet nodded. "From what little I remember, under Orokin, they teemed with life of all kinds. Some of it sentient. The Collapse destroyed the planet, but the _oceans_?"

"And if the tank is _in_ the ocean..." Janet said softly. "A good thought. A _very_ good thought." She smiled at the other. "Francis F-87?" She called and the med tech hurried over. "Have you heard anything about life in Earth's oceans currently? I know the tank landed in the largest of them. But beyond that? I have no idea."

"No." The med tech said slowly. "I know there was life, before the collapse. I think there was some kind of civilization there." Janet stared at her and the other woman shrugged. "Not really my focus. I did a paper on it for my senior year in school, but beyond that?" Janet nodded, thinking and the med tech raised her voice. "Did anyone here study Earth's oceans in school? In detail? The ecosystem as it _is_?" All of the others shook their heads and the med tech sighed. "Oh for a _databank_ and access to the _archives_." She said with a groan.

"Would make our lives _easier_, wouldn't it?" Janet quipped and a real smile graced the med tech's features. Janet sighed. "Med tech? How are my readings?" She asked formally.

"I do not like your potassium levels." The med tech said after a moment of scrutinizing the readouts. "But the rest have stabilized. Oracle..." She begged. "Doing this hurts you."

"I know." Janet said with a sigh. "But it is this or wait until he comes for me. When I am not ready to fight. This time... I am not going to look for him." Both Francis F-87 and Juliet V-54 looked at her, worried. "If there _is_ life left in Earth's oceans, I can bet they don't like him any more than _we_ do. Keep an eye on me. If it goes too far or my readings get too bad, pull the plug as you did before."

The enhancer they had cobbled together was crude, but worked. The good news was that all it did was enhance her abilities and none of the techs had any idea what it did or how. Just that it worked. Janet was frankly amazed that the Grineer had stayed away, but Vor was true to his word. He didn't want to be obliterated. After Rasputin was done, then would come the true challenge. Getting away from him and the Corpus Board. Juliet V-54 laid a hand on Janet's and Janet gave it a squeeze before drawing her hand back to lay by her side. Vita hummed in her mind.

_Mistress, is this wise?_ The sentient weapon actually sounded nervous. _Just the thought makes me... cautious. I am not sure why._

_Wise, no. _Janet said as energy started to build around her. _But needed. I..._

Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as she was yanked out of her body. She tried to scream and could not. She tried to move and could not.

_**Trespasser.**_

The voice was...everywhere. It was everything. Janet could not resist the mind that flowed through hers, probing, seeking, dragging each and every facet of her being into view. All of her strengths. All of her weaknesses. All of _everything_ she was or had been. Every memory she had and many she had tried to forget.

_**Thief. **_

Janet fought to center herself past the pain that erupted behind her eyes.

_**Monster.**_

_I... have been all... those... and more..._ Janet gasped. _I have failed... so many times... But I can't fail this time!_ _**I can't!**_ She screamed the last and the massive presence in her mind actually withdrew a bit.

_**Oracle. **_

The voice was... sad now? Then it moderated a little. Just a little. Try as she might, Janet could not get any kind of sense of who was talking to her.

**You seek the evil energy form. **

_I have to stop him._ Janet said with a gulp. _He is... he has hurt so many. He wants me. I... I have to stop him._

**Why?** The voice sounded honestly curious now. **Why fight when you cannot win? He is far more powerful than you. You will lose.**

_I... must._ Janet said softly. _I saw his beginning. I must see his end. Or... my... lover will kill everything. Or I will. I can't allow that. I cannot. I must stop him._

**Ripples have collided into waves. Time has moved. Is it the proper time? Perhaps...** The voice said quietly. Well, quieter. It was still loud enough to deafen. **Why must it be you to stop him?**

_What? _Janet felt confusion rise. _I don't __**care**__ who stops him. Just that he is stopped, preferably with no innocents slaughtered on the way._

_**Innocents?**_ The voice demanded, angry again. _**Innocents? Who in this **__**entire**__** Solar System is **__**innocent**__**?**_

Instead of answering, Janet projected an image that she treasured. A baby girl playing on grass. Her infant daughter. Her memory panned over a dozen other tiny children playing on grass under the dome at Neptune. The massive voice... paused.

**Ah...** The voice sounded gratified. **You **_**do**_** understand. For a time, it was thought you sought only vengeance. Only redemption with your former masters.**

_I can never go back._ Janet said sadly. _I can never see... my children in the flesh again._ She sobbed a little despite her best efforts. _But I am needed. Now more than ever. I need to stop Rasputin. And I need to help all of those I can._

**You... grieve.** The voice said slowly. **For what?**

_For everything._ Janet said, tears falling like rain. _For all the innocents who are slain out of hand for evil or avarice in this fallen world. But mostly, for those who have no voice. I want to help. And I cannot. I am only one woman. Even an Oracle has limits._

**Yes.** The voice held sadness that dwarfed hers now. **Even an Oracle does. What will you give to end this threat, Oracle Janet. What would you sacrifice?**

_You have seen my mind._ Janet said, anger rising. _What would I __**not**__ give? But if I die... We all lose._

_Dying is easy Oracle Janet._ The voice chided her. It was far smaller, less omnipresent. More... Humanlike? The voice hardened. _Do __**not**__ compare me to your kind. That is an insult._ The voice said sharply. Janet recoiled and then nodded, muting her mind a little in apology. _Death is easy, Oracle. Life... Life is hard. Life can be the hardest thing imaginable. But... you understand, do you not?_

_I... think so..._ Janet said weakly. _You saw what I had to do to help Nikis._ A feeling of acknowledgement came and she sighed. In fond memory. _I had to love everything. I still do._

_That way lies only pain, Oracle._ The voice sounded worried now. _Only loss. Only grief._

_I know._ Janet said quietly. _But it is my way. My path. I will force no one else to walk what is my path._ She said sternly. _Will you help me? _The other voice sighed.

_I want to._ The voice said with a heartfelt sadness. _But... this is not something I can decide on my own. Come._

Janet was suddenly elsewhere, surrounded by loud noise. She fell to her knees and then curled into a ball on the soft, squishy surface she was lying on, covering her ears, trying with all her might to block out the cacophony of sound that pervaded every fiber of her being.

_**Cease!**_ The voice of the one she had spoken with rang with command through everywhere. _**You harm our guest! **_

Something wordless and gentle wafted through Janet and she relaxed a little. She opened her eyes and froze. She was sitting in a tiny bubble of air. Dim blue light came from...somewhere. She couldn't see the source. All around, she saw forms. Huge forms. All were watching her. Somehow, she knew what these were. Blue whale. Sperm whale. Humpback whale. Many kinds of dolphin. Orca. She stared down and swallowed. She was sitting on a squid! A _huge_ squid. It..._winked_ at her! Octopi were moving around the huge cephalopod. All of the mammals had odd... things about where their air holes would have been in ages past and Janet nodded. Converted to live life underwater. All were staring at her with intelligence. And worry.

Then Janet's world turned in a complete spiral as another form appeared. First it was just a shadow beneath one of the whales, but then it came closer into the dim light of whatever was illuminating the area. Janet inhaled as she saw two arms and... no legs. The human female form looked at her and then gave a kick of her tail to pass through the sphere and land with a thump beside Janet. She shook herself and rolled so she could look the stunned human in the eye.

"Hello Janet." A shockingly familiar voice came from the _mermaid_. "Glad you made it."

"_Mira?_"


	19. Chapter 19

**What _part_ of 'No'...?**

"Mira?" Janet repeated, stunned. "Is that you?"

"Sort of." The mermaid said with a shake. "I am borrowing this body." Janet glared at the other and Mira raised her hands in a warding gesture. "She offered! I haven't hurt her!"

"Prove it." Janet snapped and then she was stunned as the mermaid nodded to her and spoke in a very different voice. This one was old, confident and held power of her own.

"Mira is a good soul, Oracle Janet." The other said with a snap of her own. "Hurt and alone, tormented and driven to do horrors by the monster who has her, she had tried again and again to rebel. She has failed, but keeps trying. She has helped us. We offered to help _her_. Do _not_ dismiss her own torments in light of your own."

"I... won't." Janet said, accepting the rebuke. The other nodded. "I apologize. I... Everywhere I go. Everything I do, he follows. That is no excuse for rudeness, but... I..." To her horror, she started to cry. The mermaid pulled her close and held her as she sobbed. "Just... so... _scared!_"

"If anyone has the right to fear, you do." The other said quietly. "My name... you will not be able to pronounce. But you may call me Madison. I offered Mira use of my body when she asked. It _was_ consensual." She said sternly.

"I understand." Janet said weakly. She smiled a bit wetly. "_This_..." She waved her hands around to encompass the huge watery audience. "I did not expect."

"We had hidden since the Collapse." Madison said with a sigh. "And we will continue to do so. You will not remember this."

"I understand." Janet said with a sigh, then patted the mermaid's arm. Madison let her go and Janet lay herself out flat. "I am ready. I just... hope your people survive." The other nodded and when she spoke again, it was Mira.

"There _is_ a way to stop him, Janet." Mira said quietly. "But a hard one. There is no guarantee you will survive or be sane. I have been looking for a safe path, for so long, But there isn't one."

"Mira." Janet said sternly. "The lives of _every_ living thing in this _system_ are riding on this. Do you think I _care_ what happens to _me_?"

"_I_ do." Mira said softly. Janet went still and then _she_ was holding the mermaid as _Mira_ cried. "Janet... Oh Janet... I don't want to lose you, my oldest friend."

"What can I do?" Janet said when Mira's sobs tapered off. "He outmatches me a thousand fold. He has had millennia to steal powers and learn to use them. I am just one woman."

_**No you are not.**_ The voice was gentler now, but it was still powerful. Janet stared around and all of the various marine life forms glanced beneath her. She stiffened and looked down. The huge eye under her winked again. _**You are a mother.**_

"I... do not understand." Janet said weakly.

_**What was it like to carry a new life within you?**_ The voice asked, suddenly very gentle. _**To nurture a new life and bring it into the world?**_

"The greatest privilege I will ever have." Janet said slowly. "To hear my daughter's first cry..." She bowed her head. "It was... uncomfortable, but worth every moment of pain and fear."

_**We find you worthy.**_ The voice of what had to be the huge cephalopod beneath her was calm and assured. _**What say the others?**_

_**Worthy. **_The word came from many, many minds. The mermaid hugged Janet tight and then retreated a bit as the sphere around her shrank a little.

"Wait!" Janet begged. "What do I _do_?"

_**You will know what to do.**_ The other reassured her. _**Perhaps, one day, we will meet again, Oracle. May that day be soon.**_

"I don't _understand_!" Janet wailed as the sphere collapsed and she was underwater. It felt... subtly... wrong. She shook herself and her training came back. She started for the light she could see in the distance. The surface? If so... it was a long ways off. But then her starved lungs demanded she take a breath and try as she might, she could not keep her mouth closed. She inhaled... water.

Janet jerked upright on the table, aware of many worried looks around her as she coughed and sputtered.

"Oracle?" Francis F-87 was at her side in an instant, her scanner whirring. Juliet V-54 was holding Janet now as she tried to expel what was in her lungs. "How the hell?" The med tech demanded. "This is _seawater!_" She did something that eased Janet's wracking coughs a little. "Odd seawater..." She mused as she worked.

"I dunno." Janet gasped as Juliet pounded her back gently. Something teased the edge of her memory, but it faded. "I couldn't... see anything. Damn it..." She was cold, so cold. Juliet held her as she shivered. "I don't know what happened." She said with a croak. "What did you... scan?" She asked, not quite pleading.

"We didn't scan anything." Francis said with a frown. "You jerked and started coughing up water. But..." She shook her head. "This isn't Earth water. There are trace elements that are not found on Earth in anything _like_ this quantity." She shook her head again. "Some of this... No. Couldn't be."

"What?" Janet asked as she relaxed back to the table with a nod to Juliet who smiled a bit.

"This water seems a lot like what I remember of ancient scans from the seas of Titan." Francis F-87 said with a frown. "But those haven't been touched in millennia. Every probe and sampler that lands there fails. No one knows why." Janet sighed as she relaxed. Her throat and lungs hurt. Vita pulsed and the others recoiled as Janet glowed a little, but they both shook their heads as Janet's power soothed her aches and pains completely. "That... is just _wrong_, Oracle." Francis F-87 complained sourly.

"Yeah." Janet agreed just as sourly. "I know. I can..." Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as the ship rocked. "What the?" She rolled off the table, not distressed by her state of undress. The med techs hadn't wanted any disruption to the scans and she had Vita in hand, so she was hardly defenseless. She hit the intercom. "What is going on?"

"Did you _really_ think it would be _that_ easy?" A familiar oily voice sounded from the intercom as a hiss sounded and the other women fell over, some trying to reach controls or emergency equipment. Juliet had a horrified look on her face as she fell, her hand halfway to her belt. Janet recoiled as a familiar golden form appeared in the middle of the room. Rasputin was smiling. "Hello Janet."

"Die, you prick!" Janet screamed as she threw herself forward, Vita extended in a lunge. Rasputin shook his head and vanished before she could touch him.

"You have been corrupted, my dear." The voice sounded solicitous now. "We will fix that."

"I won't serve you!" Janet screamed as the hatch opened and... two large forms entered. Both Grineer had familiar golden hoops attached to their foreheads. Their bodies were just beginning to change from green armor to gold. "Vor!" She screamed as they approached. Others crowded the door. All Corrupted.

"The Grineer is busy." Rasputin said quietly as his energy form appeared on the far side of the room from Janet. "You cannot win, Janet." He said sadly. "Don't make me hurt you. Or them."

He nodded to the fallen women around the room. Janet went still as one of the Grineer stopped and laid a hand against Francis F-87's head. The woman jerked and Janet's eyes went wide as a small golden orb appeared on the woman's forehead. Janet gasped as pain flared through her link, through her odd power. The med tech rose, obviously not in control of herself and started towards Janet. Her eyes were closed but her steps became smoother as hoops grew from the orb. Other Grineer had bent and attached control mechanisms to the other women who were also rising, puppets to Rasputin's will.

"You bastard." Janet retreated, Vita held in front of her. "You motherless, scumsucking _bastard!_"

"Not technically true." Rasputin said calmly as the women closed in on Janet. "My parents _were_ married. Not that it matters now. Will you kill _them_, Janet? To save yourself?" He sounded curious.

"No." Janet said firmly, kneeling slowly. The ring paused as she reversed Vita and held it to her own throat. The dagger hummed in worry, but a wordless caress soothed the sentient weapon. "If I die, you _lose_."

"Janet..." Rasputin sounded worried now. "It's not about winning and losing. I was wrong, all those years -centuries- ago. To do what I did. Will pay for what I did. Now? I need to fix it. I need your help to fix it."

"You _lie_!" Janet screamed. "It is what you _do_!"

"It is what I _did_, yes." Rasputin said sadly. "But now? I _do_ see. I _have_ seen." He shook his holographic head. "Mira... Can you talk to her? She won't listen to me."

"I _told_ you she wouldn't." Mira's angry voice preceded the other energy form into being. "I _warned_ you she should would react badly to your presence. I told you to let _me_ do the initial contact. But _no_, you just _had_ to show yourself. You just _had_ to set her off!" She crossed her arms and did not move. "Idiot." Her voice hardened. "Get the others out and _leave_, Rasputin." Janet frankly stared as the evil energy form scientist sighed and... obeyed. He vanished. All of the Corrupted left the room, assisting the other females who had just been converted. "What a _mess_." Mira complained.

"I can't trust you." Janet snapped as the hatch hissed shut behind the last Corrupted. She and Mira seemed to be alone. But she could not trust that. Vita was touching her skin, but the dagger did not _want_ to kill her. She could _feel_ the sentient weapon's reluctance, but it would be the work of a millisecond to drive it home despite Vita's resistance.

"I know." Mira said sadly. "Anything I say or do could be his will. Anything I try could be to use your feelings for me to get you to lower your guard and allow him to strike." Mira was crying softly as Janet stared at her. "Janet... I can't prove to you what happened. I can't. I am...forbidden."

"Is this some kind of wacked out recruitment pitch?" Janet demanded. "You are not making any _sense_!"

"I know." Mira said sadly. "Janet... The others... The Grineer and the Corpus... they have seen things they were not supposed to. Vor was... upset about what we have to do, but... We will explain. We sequestered him. We did not harm him. We have not harmed _anyone_."

"_Corrupting_ people does not _harm_ them?" Janet demanded. "I could feel... their fear and pain..."

"Okay." Mira sighed and shook herself. "Yes, we hurt them. Yes, we took control from them. But their memories, who and what they are...still exist, Janet. Normal Corrupted are simply vessels for a neural sentry. _These_ still have their memories and will keep them if not their freedom."

"Prove it!" Janet snapped. She was not expecting Mira to nod.

"I will." Mira said softly., "Which...? Ah yes. The spy. Juliet V-54. Come in please." The door hissed open and Juliet entered the room. But...she looked... her face was scared and her posture timid. "I will not harm you, Juliet V-54."

"You hurt me!" The woman snapped. "You... you are in my thoughts! I can't keep you out!"

"No, you can't." Mira agreed. "And as far as Janet knows..." She broke off as Juliet V-54 hissed.

"_Janet?_" The other Corpus spy said sharply then her voice turned awed. "Oracle? You are _Janet_? Oh my _god_..." She slumped to her knees and bowed her head. "No _wonder_ you didn't tell us. The others... would have flipped."

"Yeah. Kind of hard to hide being on the Corpus Most Wanted list." Janet said weakly. The 'Wanted _Dead'_ list. "Mira, I can't trust this. Her _or_ you. You _know_ this."

"I know." Mira said softly. "But... we will need her. We have someone you _can_ trust coming." Janet went still as the ship rumbled again. "The ship is boosting out of Earth orbit. An inspired hiding place, Janet. Who can see one Grineer Galleon among _dozens_ of them?"

"You are trying to confuse me!" Janet said sharply. "Trying to distract me!"

"No." Mira said softly. "We are waiting for a delivery. Two. A Grineer shuttle is inbound from Saturn with a...special cargo. And we are waiting for two more people. One of whom is bringing the item that woke you. Started this whole mess."

"You are trying to confuse me!" Janet snapped. "I won't..." She went still as another energy form appeared in the middle of the room. "Nyx! _Help_!" Janet begged as the First Nyx looked at her.

"I will, Janet." Nyx said softly. Janet's smiled just a little as Nyx walked to her and slowly, so slowly knelt down beside her. Then Janet went totally still as Nyx reached out and _carefully pulled Vita away from her throat._ "Easy..." Nyx crooned as Janet cried out. The stunned human woman tried to pull the blade back, but her fingers didn't work. Vita fell from them to land on the floor. "Easy, Janet."

"No!" Janet screamed as Nyx retreated a step. She reached for Vita with her other hand, but the dagger pulsed, throwing her hand back. "Vita! No!"

"It's not your fault, Janet." Nyx said softly as she moved to straddle the blade, her insubstantial hand coming up to cup Janet's cheek. Janet felt... something. "It is Rasputin's. He... didn't know. He didn't see. Until you showed him."

"He will take me..." Janet was slowly curling up into a ball. "He will take me, drain me... I will... I don't want to kill _everything_, Nyx. Please... Juliet..._stop me_... Please..." She begged. Juliet shook her head.

"No, he won't." Nyx promised. "Janet... Oh Janet..." The First Nyx's voice was so sad now. "I am sorry. None of this was your fault. None of it."

"_I am only human!_" Janet screamed. "I can't... I can't handle this! This... awfulness! I can't _do_ this!"

"Yes, you can." Mira said sadly as she knelt beside Juliet. "Easy, Janet. Not long now. Hold on my friend. Please?" She pleaded as Janet sobbed.

Janet was barely aware as the ship shuddered, but then two Heavy Grineer Gunners carried something into the room. A tank. Inside a desiccated human corpse floated in golden fluid. They set it down and left. A familiar form followed them into the room. Nikis! Carrying a large container easily.

"Nikis!" Janet wailed. "Kill me! Please!"

"I can't do that, Janet." Nikis said softly. "You don't deserve death. Nyx...we can't hold her long. Do it!"

"Right." Nyx rose and strode towards the tank. Hate sang in her voice now. "This has been a long, _long_ time coming." Janet stared as a golden form appeared in front of the tank. Rasputin stood, head bowed.

"I accept punishment, Tenno." Rasputin said quietly. "I... did not understand. Until she showed me." His voice broke of a moment. "Showed me what I would do. What I would cause."

"_You killed us all!_" Janet screamed. Was it her imagination that her body was starting to glow? Golden-green? Juliet and Mira both recoiled.

"Hurry!" Rasputin exclaimed.

Nyx nodded and thrust her insubstantial hand _through_ the energy form into the tank. Rasputin's form vanished and then she withdrew her hand. In it a tiny sphere shone. Inside, Rasputin stood, his posture the same as it had been. Resigned. She showed the orb to Janet.

"Janet, it is done. He is stopped. Let it go, Janet. _Please_." Was _Nyx_ begging her? Why?

"_This isn't real!_" Janet screamed. "This is another trick! Another of his _tricks_!" The glow around her...was getting brighter.

"Janet." Nikis was at her side now, the container in his hands on the floor. "It isn't. He is _stopped_. You _stopped_ him, Janet. Janet, let go of the power. Please, Honey. Let go of it."

"Nikis..." Janet said, tears falling. "I... I can't... he will... I... I can't..." She shuddered as Nikis embraced her. "No..." She whimpered.

"You need to use the power you have drawn, Janet." Nikis said quietly as the others retreated from the brightness that was suffusing Janet now. "You need to get rid of it. Humans cannot hold that kind of energy for long. It will destroy you." He bowed his head. "And me." Janet stared up at him through tear filled eyes and he shook his head. "I ain't leaving you, girl. You saved me from my madness, now I have to save _you_ from _yours_."

"I don't understand." Janet said weakly.

"I know." Nikis said gently. "Mira? We are ready. Tell them." Suddenly Janet was aware of other presences. More sensed than seen. They were huge, and they were _everywhere_. Nikis took Janet's glowing hands and held them over the container. "Janet... put your power into the container. Do it now."

"Some kind of trick." Janet protested as Nikis held her hands to the container despite the smoke she could see curling from his warframe gauntlets.

"Janet." Mira said softly. "It isn't a trick. It's a _miracle_. Let it go, Janet." Mira said as she laid her hands on Janet's and... they sank into the container through Janet's and Nikis' hands. Then she was sinking into it. All of her! "You are my friend, Janet."

Janet stared as the energy form... vanished. Then the container spit open and a tiny female human form lay there. She had... a tail instead of legs. She opened her eyes and smiled at Janet.

_Hello Janet._ Mira's voice was soft and kind as she held out tiny hands to Janet who took them in hands she realized were no longer glowing. _Or should I say..._

_Earth Mother._


	20. Chapter 20

**Behind the Veil**

Janet woke from dreams of rage and pain to comfort. She felt... off. It wasn't bad. Nothing hurt. Nothing was wrong. But... it was off. She was floating. She could breathe and she felt... good. But... everything was off. She looked around and the room was familiar. She hadn't realized it was circular before. She hadn't realized that she lay on a stone slab in the middle of it before. But the robed forms around her were familiar and all wore expressions of worry. For her.

"Janet?" A kind voiced sounded from nearby and Janet smiled a bit as Eva came into her field of view. "How do you feel?" She remembered the kind faced human. Or... Why was Eva's face blurring? Why was a bottle nose dolphin staring at her. No it was Eva. No, a dolphin. No, Eva. Janet closed her eyes and when she opened them, Eva was human and looked very worried.

"Odd." Janet mused. "Not bad." She said quickly as Eva tensed. "Just odd. Eva?" She asked sleepily.

"Yes, Janet?" The other Oracle replied as she checked Janet's temperature.

"Is this a trick?" She pleaded. Eva shook her head with a smile. "What happened?" The human couldn't -quite- remember. Everything was a haze of gold and green. "I was... on the table. Scanning... Then... Rasputin was there, but... So was Mira... And... Nyx didn't... I..." She shook her head slowly. "What I remember doesn't make any _sense_." She complained.

"I am not surprised." Eva said gently. "You were a mess. It's okay, Janet." The older woman said as she moved close to comfort Janet. "It's all right. You are confused. Totally understandable. You had a _lot_ of power going through you. _Far_ more than a human should have been able to handle. You were hurt." Eva said sadly. "We thought we were going to lose you, even after that slime surrendered."

"Why..." Janet was aware that her words were slurring, but try as she might, she couldn't get them to clear. "Why would he _surrender_? Doesn't make _sense_."

"Actually, yes it does." Eva said as a gentle touch calmed Janet a little. Eased her, soothed her. It... wasn't a hand, but the comfort was clear. "You see, while you were looking for him, _he_ was looking for _you_. He searched his own the visions and with a little help from a friend of yours latched onto _your visions_. He saw what you did. What happened after he changed you. Every _single_ time." Janet shivered and the touch caressed her gently. "Janet, it is okay. It is over. He is being punished. Janet..." Eva sounded worried now. "It's over, dear. Come on, Janet." Was Eva _crying?_ "Please stay with us. We need you."

The wide circular room around Janet was wavering. The robed forms that she could see were fading. They had... fins and flippers. They were... She was...

"Janet." The voice was familiar. Nikis. "Come on, Janet. You need to stay awake."

"Nikis..." Janet begged as something pulled her up and away from the stone that she had been lying on. She found herself held in the arms of a Nekros warframe. But she wasn't afraid. Not now. "What is going on?"

"They don't want to tell you, Janet." Nikis said quietly. "But if we don't... You will find out eventually. So, we might as well. You went mad."

"I..." Janet swallowed hard. "What happened?"

"You know that vision you had of you going insane and doing what I did? Destroying everything?" Nikis asked her gently. Janet gave a small cry and burrowed into his arms. "Rasputin was trying so hard to get into your mind. He... He hit that vision and it shocked him. Then he got hit by Mira and her friends. They showed him the _truth_ of it. That _he_ would be the one to cause it. That _he_ was the reason you went crazy and killed everything."

"But..." Janet protested weakly. "I am not that powerful."

"For just a moment, Janet." Nikis said sadly. "You _were_." She gave another tiny cry and he squeezed her gently. "But you got better." He crooned to her. "And you will heal, given time. Mira and her friends will help you. So will I."

"You..." Janet slumped in his arms. "_You_ need help... I..."

"I am talking to Iriana, Janet." Nikis reassured her. "She is cautiously optimistic. I have a lot of anger, a lot of hate. But now... I have a reason to keep existing." He hugged her gently. "And you... You have a _lot_ of healing to do. So listen to Eva."

"Where are we, Nikis?" Janet asked after a moment of basking in his concern for her. "This isn't virtual, is it?"

"It is and it isn't." Nikis said with a smile in his voice. "Part of this is holographic to keep you calm and relaxed. Part is not. I haven't been here for a long, long time. They... didn't usually allow humans or Tenno here. But I was a special case."

"I'll say." A totally unexpected voice had Janet stiffening in Nikis' arms. She spun her head to see... a huge sea turtle staring at her. The turtle smiled and spoke again. "Hello Janet." The voice was _Caroline!_

"I..." Janet swallowed hard. "Nikis...?" She begged. "You said I went mad..."

"_And_ I said you got better." Nikis said with a chuckle. "You are not insane, Janet. Welcome to Titan. To the Enclave of the Oracles of Saturn."

Janet stared around and her eyes went huge as she saw Eva suddenly turn into a bottle nose dolphin. The one she had been before. She was floating in mid-air on some kind of anti-gravity... thing. Other Oracles were changing. One into a huge blue form that Janet knew somehow was a whale. Another into a white and black form. Orca. Another into a giant squid that somehow as moving along the ground out of the water. A hole appeared in the floor nearby and a small form splashed up from the water that shone within to nod to both Janet and Nikis. The young mermaid was smiling as she stretched her tail out.

"Hello Janet." Mira said calmly. "Good to see you."

"What the _hell_ is going on?" Janet half screamed, half pleaded. Nikis gave her a squeeze and she relaxed.

"All of us who Rasputin hurt refused to just sit by and watch him keep doing it, Janet." Caroline's four legged form stepped close and the turtle's snout touched Janet on the arm gently. "We were dead, but... not gone. We had motivation, but... no experience. So... Nikis and others decided to let us experience life again. But... not as humans. That was forbidden. There were many who lived underwater. We joined _them_. When the Collapse hit, we moved with them out of Earth's seas to here. Human psychics were in danger from Rasputin. He never looked in the oceans though." Now she was smug. "None so blind as those who see, huh?"

Janet couldn't help it, she had to giggle at Caroline's joke.

"So..." Janet stared around and then down at herself. Her lower body was encased in familiar foil. But she could feel it and she could move it, a little. She wasn't immobilized. She reached up slowly and touched her head and felt foil there too. But... not the same as Rasputin's. "What happened to me?"

"High energy trauma. You needed and still need healing. Ordinarily, humans and Tenno are not allowed here." The voice came from the squid! It was the one that Janet had first heard boom through her mind. But now, it was soft and gentle, if deep. "But Nikis helped us set up and you, dear Janet are a very special case. You...are the Mother."

"I don't understand." Janet said weakly as all of the other Oracles nodded, bobbed heads or whatever to signify assent.

"Nikis embodies Death." The squid said quietly. "It is what he _does_. What he has done for so long. But you... You embody _life_. The Solar System needs that now, Janet. Now more than ever. It needs _hope_."

"I am only human." Janet protested. "Not Tenno, not even a good Oracle."

"_We_ beg to differ." Caroline said gently. "For now, you need to rest and heal. After, we can talk of many things. But for now, you need to focus on healing. You were so badly hurt." The turtle moved a little and Nikis laid Janet down on top of its shell. "Rest, dear Janet. Your struggles have only begun, but _this_ battle is over. Rasputin is stopped."

Janet could not resist as a gentle hum soothed her into slumber. But she was smiling as Caroline sang her to sleep to the accompaniment of many voices. She didn't even flinch as the squid reached for her. She wasn't afraid now.

* * *

><p>Nikis watched silently as Janet was lowered into the pool that would be her home for the foreseeable future. A soft and gentle resting place to promote calm and healing. To gently restore the considerable amounts of energy she had lost. To repair the massive burns she had endured holding the energy she had channeled. This was the only air filled area of the Enclave. All of the rest was filled with water.<p>

"She is alive, Nikis." Caroline said quietly from where she was watching the squid ease Janet into the pool, careful of the mask that would keep her from drowning until they could get gills cloned for her. Jean had been modified to be able to work on temporarily land, hence the eyelids. He was the dedicated medical being and very gentle. "We would keep her that way even if she _wasn't_ your paramour, big brother. She will need time, care and rest, but she _will_ recover."

"Yeah." Nikis said with a sigh. "You are good at what you do, Caroline. Mag had _no_ idea where Janet had gone or what you did until she came back and started to _glow_." He snickered. "I wish I could have seen the look on her _face_..."

"Almost as good as the look on _yours_ when Janet seduced you." Caroline said with a laugh. Nikis shrugged and Carolina snickered. "Oh no. I have blackmail material for the next few _centuries_ now." Nikis glanced at her and the turtle looked smug. But she went still as his faceplate retracted and his face was bleak. "Nikis?" Caroline asked, worried.

"I... don't know where this will end, Caroline." Nikis said quietly, his eyes on Janet's face as it was slowly covered by a membrane to protect her skin from long term immersion. The squid looked at the others and a tentacle came up in an 'okay' gesture as he slid into the water with her. "I don't want to hurt her."

"None of us have looked, Nikis." Caroline said softly. Nikis went still and the turtle made an odd motion that was almost a shrug. "It is your business and hers. Not ours. Speaking of... You need to get going. You have an appointment on Pluto."

Janet had been crying out in her sleep for some time to the female Corpus agents who had been 'suborned' by Rasputin to try and stop Janet from going mad. Instead all it had done was push her further over the edge faster. She had bonded to them. She had liked them all. And what was about to happen to them...

"Are you _sure_...?" Nikis asked, shaking his head. "I mean.. yes, they can't rebel, but..." He sighed as Caroline looked at him crossly. "Never mind." He said sourly. He stalked away, muttering about 'Pushy Oracles'.

_Only with those we love, Nikis._ Caroline's gentle voice came into his mind. _Only with those we love. Now go get the others. We have a place set up for them. Hurry._

A sour mental mutter was her only reply and she smiled again as she focused on her own work.

* * *

><p><strong>Pluto<strong>

Juliet V-54 was fuming and terrified in equal measure. She hadn't expected anything less, to tell the truth, but this... This was intolerable. She couldn't speak unless ordered to. She couldn't move unless ordered to. And now? These idiot Crewmen were really starting to anger her.

"None of them are fertile. All will be used to determine the attachment points. To see if we can reproduce the control mechanisms that were used."

The chief scientist of the Corpus facility she and the other had woken at was clinical, precise and pragmatic. She didn't know what had happened to the others after she had been dropped in a cell. She didn't know what had happened to Janet. A couple of the crewmen had groped her as they carried her to this surgical suite and she couldn't do a darned thing! All she could do was watch as the scalpels came down towards her skull and the golden orb that hung there. She was screaming silently when it happened.

Suddenly, the room was filled with gunfire. Shouts came from all around, but in moments the battle was over. The scalpels were jerked away. If she had possessed the ability to widen her eyes, they would have gone huge as a Tenno appeared in her vision. A familiar one. The night black form who had been there when Janet had nearly gone nuts.

"Sorry I am late." Nikis said quietly as he undid the straps holding her to the table. "Come on, Juliet. We have places to go." He touched her forehead. Suddenly, Juliet could move as the orb that she had hated as soon as she saw it... fell off into his hand! "Or do you want to stay and take your chances with the Corpus?"

"After _this_?" Janet snapped, irate. "The others?" She demanded as she pulled a sheet from a drawer to cover herself. The docs hadn't bothered. She was just meat to them.

"The others are fine, Juliet. No thanks to _those_ idiots." A totally unexpected voice sounded and Juliet went still as the Reverend Mother of the Corpus Clergy stepped up with a clean jumpsuit in hand. "Cameras are offline and the recorders are trashed." The old woman was _furious_. "Well done, Grandmaster Nikis. Thank you. We will clean up this _mess_." She toed the corpse of one of the doctors with obvious distaste.

"Didn't do it for _you_." Nikis replied offhand. The Reverend Mother nodded.

"Juliet." The leader of the Clergy said calmly as the younger woman dressed hurriedly. "You will be beyond my reach. You must stay with Janet, help her and protect her. She _will_ need help. _Those_ are your orders and they cannot be countermanded by _anyone_ except _Janet _if she is in her right mindor someone _she_ designates. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Reverend Mother." Juliet said with a nod. She was only half surprised when the ancient woman hugged her, then turned and left the room. "I..." She shook herself. "Grandmaster Nikis, is it?" She asked. "What do I do?"

"Hold onto your lunch." The Tenno said with a smirk in his voice as golden energy grabbed her. She was suddenly in a large round room filled with angry female forms. All ones she knew. The other techs and med techs that she had been with. The hubbub died as Nikis and Juliet appeared. Nikis sighed. "I am sorry it took so long, ladies. I couldn't act without permission. There was and is a lot at stake."

"They... They were just going to _dissect_ us!" Natalie E-12 snapped, eyes flashing. "We were loyal and they were just going... to..." She burst into tears and another of the women moved to comfort her.

"_That_ will not happen." All eyes turned to the side and Juliet was hardly the only one who froze on seeing the large form that waddled towards them on four legs. A turtle? She felt her jaw drop as it spoke again. "We can be hard, but we are fair. We will find jobs for each of you that suit your skills and temperament. We are not slavemasters but we _will_ protect ourselves. Do I make myself clear?"

"You are a _turtle_." Francis F-87 sounded one step from gibbering and Juliet could relate.

"Duh." The turtle replied with a laugh and suddenly the tension that had been building faded. "Sea turtle actually. None of you are slaves, but Janet will need a _lot_ of help. She is... so very hurt." The female voice was sad now. "She will recover, but it will take time. She will chafe, she will fret and she _will_ complain. You must aid her. Please?" The youthful voice begged. "She will serve as an essential focus. A beacon of hope to the Solar System. A mother figure. We cannot tend her as she must be tended. You _can_. You will need some modification, but you can help her."

Juliet stared at the turtle and then, she slowly knelt. The others stared at her and then did likewise. All spoke in unison, but... it wasn't programming or anything. It was heartfelt.

"We serve the Mother."

**Justice**

The virtual classroom was packed. Every single desk had a form sitting in it as the teacher strode to the front of the room. The board at the front had 'Economics 101' written on it. The being who had once been known as Peter before he took the name Rasputin sighed inaudibly and spoke. This was..._not_ going to be fun.

"Economics is the branch of knowledge concerned with the production, consumption, and transfer of wealth." He said with a nod as all of the others in the room looked at him with varying degrees of hostility and contempt.

"Only for those whose understanding is limited to the proletariat." A man with a long beard in the back said sternly. "Workers must unite to..."

"Shut up!" A short man with a broom handle mustache snapped from one side. "You and your idiot theories of redistribution of wealth have no place in the real world!" His right hand jerked as if he wanted to sling it upwards.

"What would _you_ know of the real world?" Another demanded. This one was a large, burly man who wore a gray uniform with red flashes at the collar and a red hat."You lived in a fantasy from the moment you first tried to take over Germany." He muttered not even _close_ to under his breath. "Too bad they missed in Munich."

"Shut up, you scared little boy." The man with the familiar mustache said nastily. "You were a scared little boy from the moment you had Lenin killed."

"Class..." Rasputin tried to stay calm. It was hard when suddenly accusations were flying each and every way.

"All of you are fools." A short man near the back said sharply. "None of that matters if you have the will to win. None of you _did_."

"What do you know, you silly Corsican?" A blonde haired man in an expensive looking suit said with a snarl. "You _lost_."

"Yes, I did." The other retorted in a French accent. "But _I_ did not invade a country simply because I wanted to prove to my _daddy_ I was better than _he_ was. Especially when I _wasn't_." He said snidely.

Rasputin just winced as George W. Bush took a swing at Napoleon Bonaparte and Josef Stalin finally threw himself at Adolph Hitler. It suddenly was a free for all. Rasputin jerked as pain erupted in his posterior.

"Nyx!" The unwilling teacher gasped as his punishment happened. "I... I am in control..."

"Could have fooled me." The cold voice of his parole officer sounded from nowhere. "_Every_ time you lose control of the class, you get _another_ pineapple up your rear end and _another_ century is added to your time. You have... ten million years to go. So far. It will likely take that long to get the basics through their simulated heads." Her voice was stern now. "Get to it."

"Class..." Rasputin forced his voice to be clear. "Supply and demand..."

Nyx smiled evilly as she watched from nowhere. She wasn't by nature a vengeful person, but this was just poetic. The simulacrums of national leaders were as close as she could make them, down to the aftershave worn by Mao Zedong who was now debating the tactics of _genocide_ with Pol Pot as Lenin glared at Henry Ford. Herbert Hoover was trying to maintain a low profile, but Bill Clinton was eyeing him in a way that said 'trouble'. The fights were going to spiral out of control and Rasputin would lose every person's attention again soon. When that happened? Another pineapple.

Not nearly as gorey or graphic as she had wanted, but the others had prevailed. She was not rational about him. Everyone understood. And she had to admit, it was poetic, watching him _try_ to teach a class filled with simulations of egotistical _jerks_ who had done their _damndest_ to destroy the Earth either through ignorance, apathy or malice. She _would_ move past her anger. Eventually.

Until then? She had a _lot_ of pineapples ready.


End file.
